The drying up of the Great Salt Lake has caused clouds of toxic arsenic

In Utah, USA, the Great Salt Lake continues to dry up, exposing local people and wildlife to dangerous clouds of arsenic. This is a veritable “environmental atomic bomb”, warn the researchers.

Currently, a devastating drought is raging in Utah, United States, and threatens to dry out the Great Salt Lake. Faced with this climatic phenomenon, scientists warn of apocalyptic environmental consequences. If the situation does not improve, it would be feared that millions of migratory birds would die due to lack of water and food, and even worse, that residents of Salt Lake City and surrounding areas are exposed to arsenic-filled dust cloudsa poison that is particularly toxic and carcinogenic to humans.

Added to this will be considerable economic impacts, insofar as access to water will become more difficult and therefore more expensive, not to mention the cessation of lucrative extractions of magnesium and other minerals in the lake which will probably have to to cease. ” We have this potential environmental nuclear bomb that will go off if we don’t take drastic enough action. “, said Joel Ferry, a local Republican lawmaker, at the New York Times.

Faced with the crisis, various solutions are currently being considered by local officials, including fines and restrictions on water use, as well as other water conservation measures.