western hemisphere

Emissions and the Great Salt Lake

September 4, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Great Salt Lake in Utah has been described as a puddle of its former self. The lake’s size fluctuates naturally with seasonal and long-term weather patterns, but the lake has been experiencing decline for decades as Utahans take water out of the rivers and streams that once fed the lake. Over recent decades, the lake has lost 73% of its water and 60% of its surface area.

For years, scientists and environmental leaders have warned that the Great Salt Lake is headed toward a catastrophic decline. Recent research has found that the lake’s desiccating shores are becoming a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have calculated that the dried-out portions of the lakebed released about 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2020.

The recent study, published in the journal One Earth, suggests that the Great Salt Lake – which is largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere – as well as other shrinking saline lakes around the world could become major contributors of climate-warming emissions.

The shrinking back of the water has exposed a dusty lakebed that is laced with arsenic, mercury, lead, and other toxic substances. Some are naturally occurring, and others are the residue of mining activity in the region. These substances threaten to increase rates of respiratory conditions, heart and lung disease, and cancers.

As the lake shrinks, it is becoming saltier and uninhabitable to native flies and brine shrimp and may increasingly become unable to support the 10 million migratory birds and wildlife that frequent it.

The new research about greenhouse gas emissions just adds to a dire list of environmental consequences brought on by the lake’s steep decline.

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Shrinking Great Salt Lake Becoming Source of Heat-Trapping Gas

Photo, posted January 20, 2020, courtesy of Matthew Dillon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Great Salt Lake Is Disappearing | Earth Wise

August 31, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere. According to data from the US Geological Survey, the surface water elevation of the Great Salt Lake has fallen to the lowest level since records began in the mid-1800s. The average elevation is now 4,190 feet above sea level. With this drop in water level, the surface area of the lake is little more than half of its historical size. The lower water level has exposed about 700 square miles of previously submerged lakebed.

The lake now contains about a quarter of the volume of water that it did at its high point in 1987. The precipitous drop in water is a result of water usage from the lake coupled with climate change-fueled drought. Increased water demand is due to the rapidly growing population of metropolitan Salt Lake City. Utah’s population is projected to increase by almost 50% by 2060.

The Great Salt Lake goes though seasonal cycles of water loss and replenishment. Rain and snow generally refill its level. However, because of the ongoing megadrought in the West, water evaporation and depletion continue to exceed the amount of water entering the lake. The water levels are expected to further decrease until fall or early winter, when incoming water is expected to equal or exceed evaporation.

The decline of the Great Salt Lake is a serious threat to the economy, ecology, and people of northern Utah. The lake generates snowpack, is a refuge for hundreds of migratory birds and other wildlife and generates millions of dollars in the economy through mineral extraction and tourism.

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Utah’s Great Salt Lake is disappearing

Photo, posted October 6, 2020, courtesy of Julie Girard via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Great Salt Lake Is Shrinking

January 9, 2017 By EarthWise

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere and is the largest body of water in the United States after the five Great Lakes. When the pioneers first arrived in the area back in the middle of the 19th century, the lake spread across about 1,600 square miles. Now, the lake covers an area of only about 1,050 square miles, a reduction of about 35%.