PPC:

Lake Urmia, in the mountains of northwestern Iran, was once a source of national pride and one of the country’s top tourism destinations. It’s emerging now as something else entirely: Iran’s most visible symbol of the damage being wrought by global climate change.

The lake has lost more than 90 percent of its surface water since the 1970s as agriculture in the region has boomed and farmers have tapped the lake and many of the sources that feed it for irrigation. Warming temperatures have also played an important role, and the receding water has left behind what looks like a post-apocalyptic landscape of rusting ships half-buried in the sand and piers that lead to nowhere. The flamingos and pelicans that once stopped at the lake have ceased visiting, and its tourism industry has disappeared.

Scientists who study the lake also point to Iran's inefficient system of dams. And a study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment in April concluded that even efforts that succeeded in reducing how much of the lake's water was used could have a limited impact because of climate change...

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