'Terrifying': Officials Fear Consequences Of Shrinking Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake is expected to be at record, alarmingly-low levels in the coming days, reported ABC 4.

Jaime Butler, a Great Salt Lake researcher at Westminster College, said, "It's terrifying. We are going to be reaching the very lowest lake levels that we've ever seen in 170 years at the Great Salt Lake."

According to Butler, the Great Salt Lake will most likely lose about two more feet of depth by October of this year.

Because water levels are diminishing, salinity is increasing in the remaining water, which could have a major impact on the local ecosystem.

Butler said:

"That’s going to mean less food for birds, and it’s going to mean the brine shrimp that we harvest and send around the world, as fish food for commercial aquaculture, could very well be impacted."

So how can this affect humans? The increase in shoreline can cause a major increase in dust pollution and dust storms.

We have two options. Butler explained:

"We have two options. We have a dried-up, environmental, economic, and cultural catastrophe that will be the Great Salt Lake and will be impacting our economy and our human health, or we can try to save the Great Salt Lake, and try to work towards a sustainable Great Salt Lake."

According to Butler, effects from the diminishing Great Salt Lake will not only affect Utahns. "We'll see the effect starting at the bottom of the food chain. The lake drying isn't just a local thing, it actually affects our entire world."