THE DEAD SEA IS .... DYING

Shrinking Dead Sea faces fight to survive
The Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth's surface, is shrinking as its salty waters rapidly dry up. With no clear solution to the problem, environmentalists and tourist businesses are worried. "Every time I come here the beach is further and further away. One day there will only be a puddle left," says Gidon Bromberg, of the environmental group Friends of the Earth, Middle East.

Too salty to sustain life, the Dead Sea is a draw for tourists who come to float in its greasy-feeling buoyant brine. Devotees also believe its waters and the mud at the margins are good for the skin. The Dead Sea has been shrinking for decades as the inflow dwindles from its main source, the Jordan River. Israel, Jordan and Syria rely on the river and its tributaries to meet the needs of increasing populations and agriculture in the arid region, and diversions have slowed the biblical river to a muddy trickle. Mineral extraction industries have also played a part by helping to accelerate evaporation.

The Dead Sea has fallen over 20 metres (66 ft) in the past 100 years and is now losing about one metre each year.