08/20/08 The Dying Dead Sea

A very sensitive and volatile issue has the Jordan, Israeli, and Palestinian governments in a quandary. Simply put, the Dead Sea is dying. After years of diverting the waters of the Jordan River, which normally feed the Dead Sea, for agriculture and domestic uses along with the practice of over mining for minerals, the Dead Sea is quickly disappearing. In only 30 years mankind has managed to nearly destroy a thousands of years old religious and cultural landmark in the Middle East. The proposed project to save the Dead Sea however could ultimately do more harm than good. The three governments along with the World Bank want to import water through a conduit from the Red Sea. A project of this magnitude would cost billions of dollars and would still not ensure the Dead Sea's survival, not to mention the long term effect on the Red Sea. Reevaluation of business practices by industries on both sides of the sea along with the possibility of rehabilitating the Jordan River should be considered long before a costly and possibly detrimental project such as this is put into effect.