Scientists studying ancient mud samples taken from the bed of the Dead Sea separating Israel and Jordan have warned that the fragile political situation in the Middle East will be made worse by the intense water shortages their study is predicting. Sediment cores drilled about 900ft down in the centre of the Dead Sea’s muddy basin – an environmental record stretching back 200,000 years – have shown that the giant lake has dried out in the past. This suggests that taking freshwater from rivers for irrigating crops could make a regional, prolonged drought almost inevitable. Read More
