Experts are sounding the alarm yet again about the fate of the Dead Sea, and warn that at the current rate of its water depletion and receding shorelines, the Dead Sea will become dead for all intents and purposes in three to four decades.
Despite the repeated warnings about the Dead Sea and its imminent demise and disappearance, the stakeholders do not seem to care or pay much attention to the impeding crisis.
The experts are now saying that the shoreline of the Dead Sea is receding by one metre and a half a year, leaving many hotels and businesses far behind the new shoreline. The same experts are now saying that the sea has lost 35 per cent of its waters over the past 40 years!
Yet no one seems to really care. The culprits are also known and have been identified beyond a reasonable doubt. Israel is on the top of the list of parties that are wreaking havoc with the future of the Dead Sea by diverting the Jordan River, which has fed the lake since time immemorial.
So what is to be done?
Under the circumstances, an international conference for saving the Dead Sea must be held under the auspices of the UN as soon as possible. It can be called "save the Dead Sea" global meeting. The responsibility for saving the Dead Sea must be global. Otherwise, the Dead Sea will simply vanish from the surface of the Earth sooner than we think.
Until now, the lake is a historic jewel that lies 430.5 metres below sea level, making it the lowest elevation point on planet Earth. Its religious, historic and cultural value is world-renowned. So must the responsibility be for saving it: Global!
