Utah's shrinking Great Salt Lake could be headed for ecological disaster as water levels pass their lowest level in recorded history.
The Great Salt Lake's slow-motion shrinking doesn't just spell environmental disaster for millions of migrating birds, it would also cause billions of dollars in economical fallout.
YIKES! Scary stuff. But, it gets worse.
And there are health risks for humans, too. Dust content near the Great Salt Lake contains harmful heavy metals, like arsenic, according to the Deseret News. Severe exposure to the dust can result in certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. The dust can and has already drifted through Salt Lake City, causing citizens to inhale the harmful dust, as shown by a video from Kevin Perry, a researcher at the University of Utah.