‘NOVA: Saving the Dead Sea’ Follows a New Endeavor to Revitalize the Dead Sea
The salt-encrusted shores of the Dead Sea were the backdrop of Old Testament drama and the source of Cleopatra’s beauty treatments. But today, the Dead Sea is dying.
In Saving the Dead Sea, airing Wednesday, April 24 on PBS, NOVA examines the erosion of the coast and the danger caused by the mile-wide sinkholes emerging where the water used to be.
Courtesy of WGBH
Since 1976, the Dead Sea’s level has dropped more than 100 feet. Its coastline is pockmarked with thousands of sinkholes. But after more than a decade of research and debate, scientists, engineers, and political leaders have come up with a daring plan: connect the Red Sea with the Dead Sea by way of a massive desalination plant.
If it’s successful, the project could not only revive the sea but also help ease political tensions and water shortages in the region.
NOVA follows this unprecedented endeavor — perhaps the world’s largest water chemistry experiment — as scientists and engineers race to save the Dead Sea and bring water to one of the driest regions on Earth.
NOVA: Saving the Dead Sea, Premieres, Wednesday, April 24, 9/8c, PBS
