Great Salt Lake: Researchers warn – the largest salt lake in the USA is disappearing

The Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah is one of the largest salt lakes in the world. But that will probably change soon. Researchers at the College of Life Sciences in Provo, Utah, are now raising the alarm in a report: The lake could be completely gone in the next five years. With a length of 120 kilometers and a width of up to 80 kilometers, the Great Salt Lake is easily visible from space. It is divided into two parts by a railway embankment. The different coloring is caused by the difference in salinity in the two parts of the lake. According to the researchers, it has lost 73 percent of its water since 1850. If you compare the photos from 1985 with pictures from 2020, the decline in water is clearly visible. The researchers report that the lake has been shrinking for two years. In 2021, it hit a new record low during a drought. According to the report, the main causes are the agricultural use of the water. Most of it is used for unsustainable agriculture. The drying up of the lake would not only have catastrophic consequences for the wildlife and the lake’s ecosystem. It also poses a health risk to people: the lake bed contains toxic dust and harmful metals such as antimony, zirconium and arsenic. These toxic substances would be spread by the wind to the surrounding fields and towns when there was no more water in the lake. 1234 billion liters of water would have to be added to the lake every year to save it. The researchers see hope in the fact that snowfall in the region is heavier than usual in winter: “We have to pull the emergency lever to bring the water from our above-average snow cover to the lake,” says ecologist and leading author of the study Benjamin Abbot. As early as 2022, local water conservation programs received $500 million from the state of Utah. In 2023, the budget should increase to 560 million dollars, reports the science portal LiveScience.