Climate Change Threatens Iran's Great Salt Lake

These dire findings are the result of a new study by researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, which examines the potential of a proposed action plan to save the lake under future scenarios of climate change. The study, published last week in the journal Science of the Total Environment, shows that under scenarios of moderate or intense climate change, the current plan will not be sufficient to protect the lake.

"This means that urgent actions are needed to save the lake. It involves both regional action to limit human water use, and global action to limit greenhouse-gas concentration," says Somayeh Shadkam of Wageningen University, who led the study.

Lake Urmia used to be the second largest hypersaline lake in the world. Located in the northwest of Iran near the Turkish border, the lake is an important, internationally recognized natural area designated by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a home to many species, including a unique species of brine shrimp. The Urmia basin also supports a variety of
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