{"id":50445,"date":"2017-02-25T17:05:19","date_gmt":"2017-02-25T15:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=50445"},"modified":"2017-02-18T15:30:11","modified_gmt":"2017-02-18T13:30:11","slug":"25-00-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=50445","title":{"rendered":"Dead Sea locals &#8211; On land crumbled by sinkholes"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/times.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"40%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/on-land-crumbled-by-sinkholes-dead-sea-locals-try-to-shore-up-their-livelihoods\/\" target=\"_blank\">On land crumbled by sinkholes, Dead Sea locals try to shore up their livelihoods<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong> MELANIE LIDMAN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"background: #d0e6fa; width: 710px; height: 15px;\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The ground under their feet precarious and the geopolitics of the water economy difficult, residents of the region struggle to see the glass half full<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\" content-alignment&lt;br \/&gt;&lt;br \/&gt; \">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n-YgazgG-Qg\" width=\"680\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When Yariv Kita, the business director of Kibbutz Ein Gedi, drives out of his kibbutz, he can\u2019t escape reminders of the destruction sinkholes have wreaked on his home.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Directly across from the entrance to the kibbutz is a dead date orchard, the palm trees doubled over like sagging rag dolls. Behind that are the remains of the kibbutz\u2019s public beach \u2014 an array of crumbling tourist facilities, including a campground, kiosk, and a restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cThe sinkholes are threatening our very existence,\u201d said Kita.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The area, including the remains of what was once Route 90, is now a closed no-go zone, the landscape pockmarked with holes caused by the rapidly dropping water level of the nearby Dead Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Sinkholes \u2014 sudden, dangerous pits that form when rock beneath the surface is dissolved by groundwater \u2014 first began to appear around the Dead Sea in the late 1980s, caused by the rapid decline of that body of water. Today the water level is dropping more than a meter (3 feet) per year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The sinkholes come in all shapes and sizes, some more than 50 meters (160 feet) across and 30 meters (100 feet) deep, others less than a meter. In 1990 there were a little over 100 sinkholes, according to the Geological Survey of Israel. Today, there are more than 6,000, with new ones showing up daily.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Kibbutz Ein Gedi is just one case among a multitude of economic challenges the sinkholes are inflicting on residents living near the Dead Sea. Hundreds of residents are precariously trying to make a living in an area whose geographic features are literally changing beneath their feet. Solutions are possible, local leaders claim, though expensive. But inaction will plunge the area deeper into isolation and poverty, they say.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWe lost 300 dunams (75 acres), it\u2019s just totally gone,\u201d said Kita. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost tens of millions of shekels. We\u2019re still assessing the financial impact.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Beyond the physical loss stemming from the sinkholes, Kita said, the kibbutz is also beginning to lose something less tangible: hope.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWhat\u2019s in danger is really the issue of continuing the settlement of the Dead Sea region,\u201d Kita said. \u201cNo one has left the kibbutz \u2014 we love this place \u2014 but it\u2019s a big worry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Like many rural areas, Ein Gedi struggles with demographic issues of attracting young people to the region and encouraging the new generation to stay local rather than moving to the center.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWe\u2019re a small, isolated spot, and there\u2019s no reason to come live here,\u201d said Kita. \u201cRight now we have only three babies in the [kibbutz\u2019s communal] children\u2019s home. We need to renew ourselves. Without new life, we won\u2019t survive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Abandoned buildings at the Kibbutz Ein Gedi public beach on January 3, 2017. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.timesofisrael.com\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Untitled-6.jpg\" alt=\"Abandoned buildings at the Kibbutz Ein Gedi public beach on January 3, 2017. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Abandoned buildings at the Kibbutz Ein Gedi public beach on January 3, 2017. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWe\u2019re asking for support and help,\u201d Kita added. \u201cThis is too big for us to do on our own. The state needs to help us. We\u2019re not responsible for this problem, we have no control over it, and we need to make a living here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">It\u2019s a challenge for any rural kibbutz to attract new members. But with Ein Gedi\u2019s businesses literally getting swallowed by sinkholes, the situation is even bleaker. The kibbutz itself is not in the sinkhole danger zone, since it is situated farther from the shoreline. But as the sinkholes expand, employment shrinks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\">Floating on a tax-free sea<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">read more: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/on-land-crumbled-by-sinkholes-dead-sea-locals-try-to-shore-up-their-livelihoods\/\" target=\"_blank\">On land crumbled by sinkholes&#8230;<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"background: #d0e6fa; width: 710px; height: 15px;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\" content-alignment&lt;br \/&gt;&lt;br \/&gt; \">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"> twoje uwagi, linki, wlasne artykuly, lub wiadomosci przeslij do: <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr style=\"width: 710px;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On land crumbled by sinkholes, Dead Sea locals try to shore up their livelihoods MELANIE LIDMAN The ground under their feet precarious and the geopolitics of the water economy difficult, residents of the region struggle to see the glass half full &nbsp; When Yariv Kita, the business director of Kibbutz Ein Gedi, drives out of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50445"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50445"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50452,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50445\/revisions\/50452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}