(RoyalPatriot.com )- As a persistent mega drought threatens Utah, the Great Salt Lake’s water levels have fallen to unprecedented lows.
The largest saltwater lake in the United States dropped to 4,188.2 feet in November 2022, the lowest level ever recorded. Its current water level is 4,188.6 feet, 17 feet below the ideal level.
The ongoing megadrought affecting the southwestern United States is the root cause. In the past 1,200 years, no drought this severe has ever been recorded in the United States. Some scientists attribute it to human-induced climate change. But then again, every problem seems to be linked to climate change. Even, laughably, earthquakes.
Some “experts” are saying the Great Salt Lake will disappear in 5 years.
Al Gore famously said the snow on Kilimanjaro would be gone by 2020. Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.
The recent snowstorms that “experts” say were caused by climate change have affected parts of the United States, including Utah, and are not likely to change the course of the megadrought.
In an interview with Newsweek, Utah State University’s Wayne Wurtsbaugh, an emeritus professor of watershed sciences, said: “The recent decline has been steep, with a loss of 9.2 feet in the last ten years. The two significant estuaries of the lake, which house hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, were severely desiccated due to this decline, which exposed 500 square miles of the lakebed. Toxic dust storms now frequently reach Salt Lake City and other Wasatch Front communities as a result of the increased lake bed exposure.
Satellite images from the NASA Earth Observatory demonstrate the seriousness of the situation. The Great Salt Lake is shown to be full in a photograph taken in June 1985. A picture taken in July 2022 shows a noticeably smaller lake.
According to NASA, the Great Salt Lake contributes an estimated $1.5 billion to Utah’s economy. The lake supplies about 85% of the state’s agricultural water.
The Great Salt Lake is one of the most important bodies of water for birds on the Pacific Flyway. Ten million birds consume the brine fly or brine shrimp, two small lake creatures. The drop in lake elevation is devastating not only because habitat loss occurs as the water recedes.
The Great Salt Lake is drying up, and the Colorado River is experiencing a 20% decline in flow. Rainfall and snowpack are necessary to maintain water levels in other reservoirs. Even a significant spring runoff might not significantly raise the lake level because it will replenish extremely low soil moisture.
