Great Salt Lake could become hotbed of toxic air pollution

Great Salt Lake, Utah.
(Image credit: Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Great Salt Lake, located in Utah, is at risk of drying up as it hits its second year in a row with historically low water levels. The lowering levels have also exposed 800 square miles of the lakebed containing soils contaminated with toxic compounds and heavy metals. The soil will turn into dried dust if the lake water evaporates, a potential phenomenon that CNN has named the "Great Toxic Dustbowl."

"This is an ecological disaster that will become a human health disaster," director of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College Bonnie Baxter told CNN. "We know about dust storms, we know about particulate pollution, we know about heavy metals and how they're bad for humans."

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Devika Rao, The Week US

 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.