VOA新闻杂志2025--Conflict Complicates Environmental Problems at the Dead Sea

Conflict Complicates¹ Environmental Problems at the Dead Sea

International visitors to Israel used to visit Ein Gedi, a popular beach on the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is the place on Earth's surface that is farthest below sea level.

Now, the beautiful desert area is in ruins beside the shrinking, salty lake.

The beach has been closed to the public for five years, mainly because of the appearance of dangerous holes in the ground. These holes, known as sinkholes, are caused by the collapse² of the surface layer.

The beach has been closed because the drop in the sea's level has made it difficult to reach its waters.

These environmental changes are not new. The Dead Sea, where Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian territory meet, has been dying for years. With the current conflict in the Middle East, efforts to deal with the environmental problem have disappeared too.

Nadav Tal of the Israel office of Eco Peace, a non-profit group, told the French News Agency (AFP), "Regional cooperation is the key... to saving the Dead Sea." Tal added: "Because we are living in a conflict area, there is an obstacle." Tal described how the sea has been declining more than one meter per year since the 1960s.

Environmental disaster

The evaporation³ of the salty waters takes place partly because temperatures reach up to 50 degrees Celsius⁴ in the summer. The sea has also been affected⁵ by years of increasing water usage from the sea's main source, the Jordan River, and other smaller waterways which begin in Lebanon and Syria.

Local factories also use the water to get minerals -- potash, bromine, sodium⁶ chloride, and magnesium⁷ chloride, among others. Tal told AFP, "The consequences of this water diversion is what we see around us.”

He described it as an “ecological disaster," adding that "the declining of the Dead Sea is a disaster for Israeli tourism."

Call for joint⁸ efforts

Efforts to deal with the Dead Sea disaster include past agreements signed by Israel and Jordan. But the wars taking place in Gaza and beyond have brought tensions to an all-time high. As a result, cross-border environmental issues are no longer getting attention.

At Israel's environment ministry⁹, Ohad Carny has been working on the Dead Sea issue for years. He said the government was looking into several solutions. They include building a desalination¹⁰ factory and making a canal from either the north or the south to deal with water shortages in the area including the Dead Sea. But, he said, "It doesn't make economic or environmental sense to desalinate¹¹ water and bring it directly to the Dead Sea, because then it's a waste of drinking water and the region needs...more drinking water and more water for agriculture.”

Carny said that his attention was on the Israeli side. But he added, "We can't do it alone. It must be a joint effort. So only time will tell, and we won't do anything without an agreement together with the Jordanian side."

Back at the Dead Sea, 40-year-old bus driver Benny is at a place where people can still visit. Benny was getting some winter sun at one of the warm sinkhole pools.

He said the sea's changes were difficult. "But everything has a plus and minus. Because of what is happening here, we have water spots like this one."

I'm John Russell.

Ruth Eglash reported this story for Agence France-Presse (AFP). John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

regional – adj. of or relating to a geographic¹² area distinguished¹³ by similar features

obstacle – n. something that slows progress or development; something that slows forward movement

decline –v. to decrease

consequences –n. (pl.) the results of an action or process

diversion – n. the act of turning from one course or use to another

evaporation –n. the process by which a liquid becomes a gas

desalination – n. the process of removing salt from water

canal – n. an artificial waterway for draining or irrigating land

1 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

7 magnesium   

n.镁

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The water contains high amounts of magnesium.这水含有大量的镁。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 desalination   

n.脱盐(作用)

参考例句：

• Crops can be grown on this land after desalination. 这片土地经过脱盐就可以种植庄稼了。
• One source is by desalination-taking the salt out of salt water to make it drinkable. 淡水的来源之一是使水淡化--把含盐的水中的盐份去掉，使之能够饮用。

11 desalinate   

v.除去盐分，淡化海水

参考例句：

• The system can desalinate up to 600 liters of brackish water a day.这个系统一天可以将高于600公升的盐水去盐。
• Energy and the technology to desalinate water are both expensive.能源和海水淡化技术都是非常昂贵的。

12 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。