The Mar Dieda salted water basin located between Israel, Jordan and West Bank in the heart of Near Eastis the most famous lake savory of the planet. The Dead Sea, in Arabic Yam Ha-Melah Which means “salt sea”, it is currently experiencing a phase of great suffering for a strong unwary of the area and a progressive loss of volume of water. The question clearly has repercussions throughout the region, not only from a point of view environmentalbut also economic. What is exactly going on?
The geography of the Dead Sea: where it is located
Although it is called in this way, the dead sea is actually a lake savory which develops on an area of 600 km² on the border between Israel, Palestine And Jordan. The basin is known to most for its records: in addition to having a decidedly high salinity, equal to approximately 10 times the average one of the oceansis found in a deep depression that constitutes the lower point reachable on the mainlandlocated a –733 meters SLM.
This large lake is in fact part of an extensive system of is busty. The pelvis, which is located in an extremely warm region, whose temperatures can also reach i 50 ° Coriginated following the sinking of a part of the earth’s crust due to geological phenomena.
Because he is disappearing: what is happening
The water contained in the dead Sea lies decreasing. This phenomenon originated in the sixties of the last century but has undergone acceleration in recent decades, especially due to two factors. The first, and probably the main one, is connected to the Management of water resources of the area: the exploitation of Acquiferes and of water Of the most important immissaries, among which we certainly find the Giordano river, it determined a decrease in the influx of water to the dead Sea. The second reason is instead connected to the change climatic and toglobal temperature increase which, determining a greater evaporation natural and one decrease from the rainfallcontribute further to the drop in the water level in the pelvis.
Consequences and solutions: the future of the Dead Sea
The drop in the volume of water of the dead Sea and the decrease of that present in the underground aquifers, as well as determining a profound transformation into the environment and in the landscapelead to the formation of doline And voracini which open for the transfer of the surrounding land. One of the sectors directly affected by this progressive transformation of the territory is that of tourismparticularly widespread and practiced along the shores of the Dead Sea until a few years ago. From an environmental point of view, the decrease in the amount of water, moreover, alters the balance of local ecosystemsin fact, despite the high salinity of the water limits the spread of the larger life forms, however there is a certain biodiversityformed above all by algae and bacteria. In addition, variations in the concentration of salt could change the chemical conditions of the water, with unpredictable effects on the natural balance of the region. Several proposals have been advanced over the years, to cope with this problem: it is clear that, given the extension of the dead Sea, environmental protection projects should be thought of in the perspective of collaboration international And they should predict one coordinated and shared management.
However, the serious geopolitical crisis and theInstability of the neighbor and the Middle East They make it extremely complicated, if not impossible, the control of the drop in the water volume of the dead Sea, at least in the immediate future. Of course, we should improve and optimize the Management of water resources of the whole region, reducing the sampling of water from the main immissaries and promoting Desalinization technologies To obtain fresh water from other sources, without further affecting the dead Sea basin. Among the advanced hypotheses there is also the construction of channels To convey further water to the large salty lake: at least in theory, this could actually compensate for water loss. However, the environmental impact and the high costs of such a “invasive” work in ecological terms have generated many perplexities.
