Abir Sultan / EPA
A tourist smeared with mud from the Dead Sea stands in a coastal resort near Ein Gedi, Israel on July 25.
Mud from the Dead Sea, which is rich on several minerals, is said to be good for the regeneration of the skin and is even sold as a cosmetic therapy for skin diseases.
NASA / GSFC / METI / ERSDAC / JAROS / ASTER
A multispectral view from the ASTER imager on NASA's Terra satellite shows salt evaporation ponds in the southern Dead Sea as of 2006.
The Dead Sea is at ground zero for the biblical past — and perhaps for the Middle East's environmental future as well. For today's installment of the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, we present two satellite images that show how the salty inland sea has changed over the past five years.
The orbital snapshot above was taken by the ASTER multispectral imager aboard NASA's Terra satellite in 2006. The picture below is a mosaic from Google Earth, based on orbital imagery provided this spring from DigitalGlobe, GeoEye and the French space agency CNES.
DigitalGlobe / GeoEye / CNES / Google
A mosaic of Google Earth satellite imagery from this spring shows the salt evaporation ponds in the southern Dead Sea.
For years, environmental experts have voiced concern about shrinkage in the Dead Sea, but the situation is actually more complex: The northern part of the Dead Sea, visible toward the top edge of each image, is indeed drying up — and there's a danger that the body of water could fade away someday, just as the Aral Sea is fading away in Central Asia. The status of the highly managed southern part of the Dead Sea, which is separated from the northern part, is quite different: It's actually flooding. That's creating a salty mess on the tourist beaches that surround the southern sea.
In these pictures, you can see the southern Dead Sea sectioned off into industrial salt evaporation pools. For years, water has been pumped from the northern to the southern sea to feed those pools. If you look closely, you can tell that the water level in the north has been falling, while the level in the south is a bit more stable.
Now Middle East governments are debating what to do about the imbalance, and what to do about the prospect for future water shortages as well. One thing is certain: The rise and fall of the Dead Sea is nothing new. Scientists reported this week that the body of water nearly disappeared 120,000 years ago. The region's changing water levels may even explain the various biblical references to the Middle East as a famine-struck land or a land flowing with milk and honey.
Every day from now until Christmas, the Space Advent Calendar features pictures of Earth as seen from outer space. Check back on Friday for the next entry on the calendar, and check out these previous entries:
I've been to the Great Salt Lake, but the Dead Sea takes salt to a whole new level.
Want to vote for the New Seven Wonders of the Natural World? Click here.
Abir Sultan / EPA
An aerial view of tourists bathing in the mineral rich waters of the Dead Sea at the resort area of Ein Boqek, Israel, Nov. 9. The Dead Sea is one of the 28 finalists in the New Seven Wonders of the Natural World global online campaign whose winning list will be decided via mobile phone voting that closes on November 11.
Nir Elias / Reuters
A sunbather floats on the Dead Sea, north of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Shalem Nov. 9.
Abir Sultan / EPA
An aerial view shows large salt formations in the southern part of the Dead Sea, near Ein Boqek, Israel, Nov. 9.
Nir Elias / Reuters
A tourist covered in mud walks near the shore of the Dead Sea, north of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Shalem Nov. 9.
Abir Sultan / EPA
An aerial view of a large sinkhole filled with salt formations on the shores of the Dead Sea, north of Ein Gedi, Israel, Nov. 9.
Abir Sultan / EPA
An aerial view shows a close up of a salt formation inside a large sinkhole on the shores of the Dead Sea, north of Ein Gedi, Israel, Nov. 9. The sinkholes are formed when the surface gives way due to underground erosion formed by receding water levels caused by a lack of fresh water reaching the Dead Sea itself.
Jack Guez / AFP - Getty Images
More than 1,000 floating nude Israelis pose for U.S. art photographer Spencer Tunick's first Middle East shoot on September 17, 2011. The location, in the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth, which experts warn could dry out by 2050 unless urgent steps are taken to halt its demise. For Tunick, a Jewish American who has arranged naked human bodies over prominent landscapes and landmarks ranging from a Swiss glacier to the Sydney Opera House, a nude installation is an indicator of a host country's openness.
According to the AP:
About 1,000 Israelis have bared it all in a mass nude photo shoot at the Dead Sea.
The volunteers stripped down Saturday for photographer Spencer Tunick, who has gained fame for his nude group photos in public spaces around the world.
Tunick chose the Dead Sea for his latest project to deliver an environmental message highlighting the plight of the world's lowest and saltiest body of water. The fabled salty lake is dropping nearly 4 feet a year.
Website of the artist, Spencer Tunick.
More on the Dead Sea photo shoot from Discovery News, and from Ha'aretz.
Kazbek Basayev / Reuters
Russian soldiers from 34th motorized infantry mountain brigade, 58th Army, prepare to evacuate a fellow soldier acting as an injured person during a drill at the Darial range outside Russia's city of Vladikavkaz, July 28, 2010.
Jim Hollander / EPA
Arienne Lippman, a Swiss-born Israeli artist, wrapped like a mummy, is carried by two Palestinians into the Dead Sea as Irit Ammar, an Mexican-Israeli artist, assists as they use the mineral-rich Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, as a backdrop for their performance art piece on 28 July 2010.
In our feeds, we see a lot of photos of military drills and artists' projects, but we don't often see them side by side. These two images, one from Russia and one from Israel, appeared six minutes apart on the wire.
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