![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/08/16/9aa9f30fc1dc4ebe82d4f7b5f7017875.jpg)
Aerial view shows patterns formed by crystallized minerals and sinkholes on the surface of a dried-up Dead Sea area which exposed and created a salt plain, near the southern Israeli Neve Zohar Resort, Aug. 15, 2023. (Photo/Agencies)
The Dead Sea has lost a third of its surface area since 1960 with the blue water receding about a meter (yard) every year, leaving behind a lunar landscape whitened by salt and perforated with gaping holes.
![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/08/16/9840469cafff4933814fae3fe8e6e3d3.jpg)
Aerial view shows patterns formed by crystallized minerals and sinkholes on the surface of a dried-up Dead Sea area which exposed and created a salt plain, near the southern Israeli Neve Zohar Resort, Aug. 15, 2023. (Photo/Agencies)
![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/08/16/48e80a29a3e947b1844d1c499a1f092d.jpg)
Aerial view shows patterns formed by crystallized minerals and sinkholes on the surface of a dried-up Dead Sea area which exposed and created a salt plain, near the southern Israeli Neve Zohar Resort, Aug. 15, 2023. (Photo/Agencies)
![](http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2023/08/16/c644ea99f92e4f8aadcd145e23af3ae6.jpg)
Aerial view shows patterns formed by crystallized minerals and sinkholes on the surface of a dried-up Dead Sea area which exposed and created a salt plain, near the southern Israeli Neve Zohar Resort, Aug. 15, 2023. (Photo/Agencies)