A new study has found that the Great Salt Lake, which has lost 73 percent of its water, is releasing climate-warming emissions.
A new study has found that the Great Salt Lake, which has lost 73 percent of its water, is releasing climate-warming emissions.
For years, scientists and environmental leaders have been raising alarm that the Great Salt Lake is headed toward a catastrophic decline.
Now, new research points to the lake’s desiccating shores also becoming an increasingly significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have calculated that dried out portions of the lakebed released about 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2020, based on samples collected over seven months that year.
Their study, published last month in the journal One Earth, suggests that the Great Salt Lake — which is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere — and other shrinking saline lakes across the world could become major contributors of climate-warming emissions. The research also adds to a dire list of environmental consequences brought on by the lake’s precipitous decline.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
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