Something’s happening at the lowest point on our planet, some 1,388 feet below the sea level.
The Dead Sea, a salt lake close to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, is shrinking at an alarming rate — about 3.3 feet per year, according to the environmentalist group EcoPeace Middle East. And human actions are largely to blame.
“It’s not just like one country is punishing the Dead Sea; it's more like the whole region,” said photographer Moritz Küstner, who visited the area in February to work on his series “The Dying Dead Sea”.
The Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it, such as the Jordan River basin. But around the 1960s, some of the water sources it relied upon were diverted.
Mineral extraction industries are another main reason why the water levels are declining, experts say. The Dead Sea’s minerals have been popular for their medical power and can often be found in cosmetics (化妆品) and other consumer products.
And then, of course, there’s the Middle East’s hot, dry climate, which makes it difficult for the lake to refill itself.
Israel and Jordan have signed a $900 million deal in an effort to stabilize the Dead Sea’s water levels.
It involves building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea so that both countries would be able to not only supply water to Israel and Jordan but also to pump much needed water — some 300 million cubic meters annually — into the Dead Sea.
“This is the most important and significant agreement since the peace treaty with Jordan (in 1994),” said Silvan Shalom, Israel’s energy and water resources minister at the time.
Whether the canal — estimated to take three years to complete — will work out positively and as planned remains to be seen.
8. Moritz Küstner visited the Dead Sea to ________.
A.shoot TV series about people's action there |
B.make a survey about the sea level |
C.do his photographic series work |
D.research into environmental problems |
9. Which of the following statements is NOT the reason for the water levels’ declining?
A.The other natural sources the Dead Sea relied on were switched. |
B.The Dead Sea's minerals have been dug and used in some products. |
C.The Middle East's climate makes the lake itself difficult to store water. |
D.Israel and Jordan are the two countries to destroy the Dead Sea. |
10. What measure has been taken to save the Dead Sea?
A.Bringing in water from the Red Sea. |
B.Introducing water from Israel and Jordan. |
C.Taking Israel's energy and water resources. |
D.Struggling for international support. |
11. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A.Why the Dead Sea is dying and the measures taken to save it. |
B.How important the Dead Sea is in Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. |
C.How to solve the problem that the Dead Sea is being destroyed. |
D.Protecting the environment is in no hurry all over the world. |