The Great Salt Lake Will Be Gone Soon

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For some time, there has been a forecast that The Great Salt Lake, once one of the largest inland salt lakes in the world. New data confirms the likelihood of the disaster.

*The World’s Drought Problems

*Relationship Between Drought And Heat

*Drought And Coffee Prices

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, writing about a new report, “But continued low water levels put the lake — and the communities around it — at risk. Current depletions of water are too high to restore a healthy lake and climate models project that future increases in precipitation will be overshadowed by rising air temperatures and evaporation.”

Not that long ago the issue with the lake was that it created floods. In the 1980s, it covered over 3,300 square miles. The “West Desert Pumping Project” was created to help with overflows. Today, the Great Salt Lake covers less than 900 square miles.

Last year, scientists said the lake would be gone in five years. At the current pace, that may be accurate.

Pollution Problems

If the lake does disappear, it causes real problems. According to NPR, “The big unknown is how bad dust storms could get from a dried up lake bed. There is precedent. Along California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, years of water diversions from the Owens River by the city of Los Angeles caused downstream saline Owens Lake to dry up. Dust storms from that lake bed became the largest single source of dust pollution in the nation.”

The world’s focus is on the California wildfire and Miami hurricanes. There is a huge problem inland as well. It could cost Salt Lake City dearly.