The Great Salt Lake is not only shrinking/drying, but there's concern over the exposure of dangerous elements that was once underwater
> Layers of earth that were formerly underwater have swirled into dust clouds laced with calcium, sulphur and arsenic, a naturally occurring element linked to cancer and birth defects. Exposed lakebed is also contaminated with residue from copper and silver mining.
> "If you breathe that dust over an extended period of time, like decades or longer, then it can lead to increases in different types of cancer, like lung cancer, bladder cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and such," Perry, from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, told Reuters on a recent morning on Farmington Bay.
> More than just humans are endangered. Underwater reef-like structures host a micro-organism that is food for brine shrimp, in turn an important food for birds, but the structures dry out and turn gray when exposed.
The GSL is also largely responsible for the famous Utah ski resorts
Without the lake effect producing all that snow, Utah's ski industry is in jeopardy. Without the ski industry, a very large portion of Northern Utah's desirability as a place to live goes away'
