For decades environmentalists have been warning that the Dead Sea, a unique body of water situated between Jordan and Israel, was actually dying as its area has been shrinking at a rate of 1 meter (3.3 feet) per year. At this rate, experts believe that the saltiest sea on earth will dry up by the year 2050 leaving environmental, social and economic ruin in its wake.
Water expert and head of the Friends of the Dead Sea Society Saad Abu Hammour told Al-Monitor that the receding waterline has picked up in the past few years threatening a complete environmental collapse of the Dead Sea, which, at 430.5 meters (1,412 feet) below sea level, is situated at the lowest point on earth. He said that the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance project is the only hope to spare the region an environmental catastrophe.