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17 September 2008

Gidon Bromberg, Nader Al-Khateeb and Munqeth Mehyar, the three executive directors of FoEME, are nominated as "Hereos of the Environment" by the TIME Magazine.

September 2008

The Spanish marathon swimmer Carlos Peña crossed the Dead Sea in September 2008 and with it, his seventh Living Lakes. He swam 60 km in five stages with a water temperature of 35 degrees and an outside temperature of 46 degrees. Carlos Peña’s comment: „It felt like swimming in the dessert. The water with its extremely high salt concentration, as well as magnesium, potassium, bromine and sulphur felt like dish washing water".

With this campaign Carlos Peña supported the concern of the international network Living Lakes in the protection of lakes and wetlands. Since 2000 the Dead Sea is represented by the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, Middle East in the Living Lakes Network.

The Dead Sea is located 417 m below sea level, its shores are the lowestlying natural spot of the world. Algae and bacteria occurring some estuardies aside, the Dead Sea is biologically dead, its salt content is ten times that of sea water. Its "oversalinity" is attributable to the salt-laden in-flow rivers, to the absence of an out-flow, and to the huge amounts of water evaporating under fiery sun.

Oases and marsh land surrounding the Dead Sea, the temporarily water carrying brooks and the near mountains have a rich bio-diversity - leopard, ibex, griffon vulture live here. White and Black Stork overfly the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea Basin to or from their winter quarters.

The Dead Sea is extremely threatened: Due to excessive water withdrawal of the people living in the western part of the lake, the Dead Sea's in-flow decreased from 1.2 billion of cubic meters in 1900, 810 million of cubic meters in 1960, to 125,000 cubic meters in 1985. The main problem, however, is the withdrawal of the Jordan, the Dead Sea's biggest in-flow river. Farmers use Jordan water to irrigate their fields and fruit plantations, the city dwellers as drinking and industrial water.

At the south end ot the lake two big factories produce 1.8 million tons of potash p.a.. Additionally, 50,000 tons of salt, 25,000 tons of magnesium and 180,000 tons of bromine are extracted. The production respectively extraction of these substances needs a a large amount of energy, fresh water and sea water, and destroys the natural environment. Due to these activities, the Dead Sea's water dropped by 25 m over the past 30 years. The length of the shoreline shortened by 20 km.

The development of "smooth" tourism offers good chances for the future. In 1999, more than half a million of tourists came to visit the Dead Sea, twice as much as in the past three years, to benefit trom the sea's minerals and enjoy the places of cultural interest. But more tourists mean also a higher water consumption.

More information about Dead Sea

Detailed Data

Contact

"Gardens for Peace" - an Ecological Project at the Dead Sea

Threatened Lake of the Year 2006

Conference Proceedings "Dead Sea between Life And Death"