Ofir Berman

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NPR - What is killing the Dead Sea?

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Visitors, including Dead Sea re...e Dead Sea in Israel on Nov. 5.

Visitors, including Dead Sea researcher Yael Kiro from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science (second from left), examine salt formations on the shore of the Dead Sea in Israel on Nov. 5.

A large sinkhole in the middle ...due to the danger of sinkholes.

A large sinkhole in the middle of the road in the Ein Gedi area west of the Dead Sea in Israel on Nov 5. Ein Gedi Beach is completely closed to bathers due to the danger of sinkholes.

A Palestinian child sells plant...the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

A Palestinian child sells planters and pottery along the road approaching the Dead Sea in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Bedouins operate camel tours as...the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Bedouins operate camel tours as a tourist attraction on the road leading to the Dead Sea in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Sinkholes near the western shores of the Dead Sea.

Kayaking in the Dead Sea on Nov. 5.

Salt formations on the recently-exposed shoreline of the Dead Sea.

"You've seen a...assenger boats on the Dead Sea.

"You've seen a living disaster in front of your eyes," says Jake Ben Zaken, an Israeli who says he operates the only passenger boats on the Dead Sea.

Plastic chairs and a mini barbe...h along the Dead Sea on Nov. 5.

Plastic chairs and a mini barbecue abandoned on the shoreline of a permanently closed beach along the Dead Sea on Nov. 5.

Rachel Kiro, 13, the daughter o...northern basin of the Dead Sea.

Rachel Kiro, 13, the daughter of Dead Sea researcher Yael Kiro from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, sits atop a salt formation in the northern basin of the Dead Sea.

Israel's Dead Sea Works... bromine and bromine compounds.

Israel's Dead Sea Works factory piles up white potash, which is extracted from the Dead Sea and exported for fertilizer, in the southern part of the Dead Sea on Nov. 10. The company was founded by Israel in 1952 and mines the lake for minerals such as potash, bromine and bromine compounds.

Layers of salt on the shore of the Dead Sea on Nov. 5.

Researcher Yael Kiro from Israe...ence at the Dead Sea on Nov. 5.

Researcher Yael Kiro from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science at the Dead Sea on Nov. 5.

Salt formations are revealed wh... Dead Sea waters have dried up.

Salt formations are revealed where the Dead Sea waters have dried up.

Gregory, a recent immigrant fro...bathers float right to the top.

Gregory, a recent immigrant from Russia, floats in the Dead Sea at a beach connected to an Israeli hotel resort on Nov. 10. The water of the lake is so full of salt that bathers float right to the top.