Dead Sea

Dead Sea is an unparalleled wonder of the world: the lowest exposed spot on Earth, its therapeutic waters are so full of salt that bathers [blank] right to the top. This natural spa is a source of rich minerals used by the ancient Egyptians for mummification, and fabled to be the biblical site of Sodom and Gomorrah. But today the Dead Sea is dying, and its banks are collapsing. The water level is [blank] close to 4 feet every year. The main part of the lake is now around 950 feet deep -- about 15% shallower, and a third of the surface area, compared to its shape half a century ago. As the lake recedes, it changes the landscape around it in both beautiful and ominous ways. Exquisite salt formations are [blank] where the water dries up. But there are also apocalyptic scenes of condemned beaches and parking lots swallowed up by sinkholes [blank] the shore.