Dead Sea NASA Photos: Satellite Images Show The Lake Drying Up

From Mother Nature Network's Russell McLendon:

The Dead Sea earned its name not from death exactly, but from a relative lack of life. That's because, as a hypersaline lake, its water is far too salty for most wildlife to live there full-time (aside from recently discovered microbes on its seafloor).

But as the satellite images above illustrate, the Dead Sea itself has been gradually dying for decades. The trio of false-color images were taken at three points over the past 40 years — 1972, 1989 and 2011 — and reveal a dramatic transformation.

Captured by NASA's Landsat satellites, these images show deep waters as dark blue and shallow waters as bright blue, while pink and tan represent barren desert, green indicates sparse vegetation, and red indicates dense vegetation. Near the center is the Lisan Peninsula, which now forms a land bridge across the Dead Sea.

So why is the Dead Sea becoming smaller and shallower? Largely because of water diversions from the Jordan River, which flows into the Dead Sea from the north. But as NASA explains, intensive salt-gathering projects are also encroaching from the south — and they're especially obvious in these photos. According to NASA:

The ancient Egyptians used salts from the Dead Sea for mummification, fertilizers, and potash (a potassium-based salt). In the modern age, sodium chloride and potassium salts culled from the sea are used for water conditioning, road de-icing, and the manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. The expansion of massive salt evaporation projects are clearly visible over the span of 39 years.

The Dead Sea is part of a depression in the Earth's crust between Africa and Asia, found on a rift where the two continents are pulling apart. It's the lowest surface feature anywhere on Earth, with shores located 1,300 feet below sea level. And thanks to its extreme saltiness, it's also known for its buoyancy: Delighted tourists float on its surface with ease, while frustrated divers struggle to explore its depths.

Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority are currently planning redevelopment projects to save the Dead Sea, partly by pumping water from the Red Sea via pipelines. Jordan's project is slated to begin in early 2013, the Jordan Times reports, eventually moving 2.1 billion cubic meters of water from the Red Sea annually.

But the Dead Sea itself isn't the only regional treasure undergoing rehab. The Dead Sea Scrolls — a series of 972 biblical texts discovered around the sea between 1947 and 1956 — are being reanalyzed by facial-recognition software, which may help scholars better understand the scrolls' significance. And in the meantime, you can study them for yourself, thanks to a joint project by Google and the Israel Museum that recently digitized some of the scrolls and put them online.

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Comments

[heartisferee]

04:27 PM on 04/24/2012

The Red Dead Project could save the Dead Sea, but it also may be a project that will set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

For a number of years, Middle East politicos, governmental leaders, and engineers have been talking about the Red Dead Project and how it could be the answer to the ever increasing problem at the Dead Sea and its loss of water. In search of a solution for this problem, Israeli President Shimon Peres presented the Red Dead Project to a regional gathering of political leaders, governmental officials and bankers.

This momentous project would take years and cost billions of dollars, but would also ultimately pay for itself in the long run. There are those who say this type of project could produce great wealth like the silver and gold that could be extracted from the Dead Sea, enough money to pay the national debts of almost every nation in the world.

In the book of Ezekiel 38:13, the prophet mentions the gold and silver that will attract Israel's enemies to come to destroy the Jewish state. Later in Ezekiel 47, he mentions how water from the Temple in Jerusalem will actually flow down to the Dead Sea and make it a freshwater lake, not 10 times saltier than the ocean as it is today.

[raal246]

11:55 AM on 04/22/2012

Huffynoid at work! Take a close look at the coastline in first and last pics..., notice the inlets, coves, landmass indentations, etc DO NOT, repeat do not change much! Look at the south part..., OMG! It looks like..., like some heavy construction of salt lakes to collect salt has been done! This appears to be on both Israely and Jordanian side! Now, why do they need salt? Koshr salt..., hummmmmm. With over 1 Billion muslims out there - could it be a demand is high and the evaporative lakes were built??? Now, this artea, according to Huffy noid writer shows lake drying up! Really? Want a closer look - do a Google Earth and check the massive construction in this area!
Seems this article is just another mistruth by writer.

[Btc Carmel]

11:43 PM on 04/21/2012

We must care on Dead Sea http://www.mineral-deadsea.com/

[Kenz300]

11:31 AM on 04/21/2012

Too many people diverting too few resources........

Every country needs to develop a plan to balance population with resources like food, water, energy and jobs. Endless population growth is not sustainable.

[raal246]

11:57 AM on 04/22/2012

I've heard that someplace before...., Obamacare?

[ThinkCreeps]

04:36 PM on 04/20/2012

A contrast to why people are getting obese. Not enough going in.

[iyanovskay]

03:22 PM on 04/20/2012

look at Aral Sea. It even worse

[raal246]

11:59 AM on 04/22/2012

The Aral sea..., National Geographics did a superb article on it. What was the problem? Ahh, socialist/comunist government KNEW better and diverted the fresh water flowing into Aral Sea into farms/agriculture!

[iyanovskay]

02:14 AM on 04/23/2012

Thank I use to live there. that's how i know about it

[heikhali]

02:52 PM on 04/20/2012

The reason for the diminuation in the size of the Dead Sea is that it is a source of drinking water in that arid part of the world, after reverse osmosis to remove the salt.

[batirw]

06:38 PM on 04/20/2012

I live in Jordan and I can assure you that no body drinks from the Dead Sea!! The reduction of water is due to the overabstraction of tributaries, especially Jordan River for irrigation purposes as well as water evaporation for Potash production in Jordan and Israel.

[heikhali]

11:36 PM on 04/20/2012

Thank-you. National Geographic Magazine claims that the Isrealis have severla reverse osmosis plants that filter debris from and remove salt from the water from the Dead Sea for drinking.

[SimonBao]

09:38 AM on 04/22/2012

Sorry, I must agree with others below. Water is not removed from the Dead Sea for drinking, or for other purposes.

Rather, water that would otherwise pour into the Dead Sea is diverted before it ever gets there. It's water from the Jordan River, for example, that is used for drinking, for agriculture, for industry, etc.

[heikhali]

02:49 PM on 04/20/2012

The Dead Sea is a source of drinking water, after reverse osmosis.

[Rad666]

02:46 PM on 04/20/2012

Start digging. I bet there will be some great archaeological finds on the former seafloor.

[corvetter89]

02:41 PM on 04/20/2012

I want some of that dead sea salt! does anyone market it? jus wonderin....sea salt is great for cooking.

[lowrodiay65]

02:36 PM on 04/20/2012

I can smell the U.S. having to foot the bill to try and save the dead sea.

[lex19999]

02:55 PM on 04/20/2012

Thou must have a very large snout.

[colman13]

02:56 PM on 04/20/2012

so true!

[beverlyamy1]

02:00 PM on 04/20/2012

hence the name; dead sea.

[artleads]

01:12 PM on 04/20/2012

"Why Is The Dead Sea Dying?"

Israeli (European--on steroids) land-use policy, no doubt.

[tippy301]

02:10 PM on 04/20/2012

Wrong.

[artleads]

03:46 PM on 04/20/2012

Always good to be corrected and informed. Go further, please.

[SimonBao]

09:44 AM on 04/22/2012

Well that is unfair.

As the article suggests, the Dead Sea is indeed dying due to water diversion. Fresh water that would otherwise flow into the Dead Sea and maintain it is instead diverted and used for drinking, agriculture, and industry.

But it's not only Israel that is doing the diverting. So too is Jordan. And so too are Lebanon and Syria. The article fails to mention it but the sources, the headwaters of the Jordan River lie in Lebanon and Syria, both of which have also diverted increasing amounts of water to meet their own needs.

EVERYBODY in the region is diverting more of the water.

[artleads]

11:33 AM on 04/22/2012

Thanks. I guess I was thinking of Israel's green revolution in the desert. And I'm always struck by the contrast between Israel's bustling, water-intensive lifestyle compared with the laidback olive trees and brown grass of the Palestinians. Then, of course, building monster, high-rise, water-intensive settlements where there was dry grass for thousands of years before... But everybody is in on the act of overdevelopment these days, but it seems that Israel set the standard.

[Israelibabs]

01:11 PM on 04/20/2012

Love, love, love the Dead Sea! It's a spot where all go to enjoy the mud and the floating on the sea. We slept outside on the land next to the sea and many others were doing the same. Someone was playing a guitar and music filled the night. Arabs, Jews, and Christians from all over shared the in the camping outdoors and the sea. What a great experience that was. Everybody was there to enjoy and we did, peacefully coexisting!