Lake Urmia Is Drying Up

Lake Urmia, the largest lake in the Middle East and one of the unique ecosystems of the world, is registered as Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO and listed as a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.
Over the last several years, Lake Urmia has shrunk significantly and its depth has fallen by seven meters. According to UNEP report published at GEAS (February 2012) as a result of drying the lake vase amount of salt will be exposed to wind and consequently it will impact life of 76 million people living in Iran and neighboring countries such as Iraq, Turkey and Azerbaijan.