Saving Dead Sea

As with so many important places in the world, environmental issues are also at stake. The Dead Sea, the saltiest and most mineral-laden lake in the world, had been declared as the world's most threatened lake of 2006 by the Global Nature Fund. If you're going to have a trip into the depths of the lake, your passage would be accompanied by representatives of Friends of the Earth Middle East as well as some medical experts and historians.

The Dead Sea is situated in the Dead Sea Rift, which is a part of a wide crevice in the Earth's surface named the Great Rift Valley which extends from the Taurus Mountains of Turkey to the Zambezi Valley in Southern Africa. It was known as the lowest exposed point on the earth's surface with an elevation of 418 meters below sea level as of this year. Considered as the largest "Natural Spa" in the world, the lake is also famous for its thermo-mineral springs and mineral black mud that was reported to possess wonderful curing properties.

The lake was reported to be rapidly shrinking due to the distraction of incoming water. Details on the report said that it fell 21 meters amid the years 1930 and 1997. To save the historical lake from disappearing, Israel, Palestinian and Jordan authorities signed an agreement last year to conduct researches on a scheme that would require for the creation of 550 megawatts of electricity and 870 million cubic meters of fresh water.