Land sinking as Dead Sea shrinks

The Dead Sea in Jordan is shrinking at an alarming rate - a development that has led to the creation of some 3,000 sinkholes along the sea's coasts.

The sea has shrunk by a third since the 1960s when its major water source - the River Jordan - was diverted for upstream projects in Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

But for many people, the projects have backfired and the farmers who work near the sea say the once verdant and fertile land has become increasingly barren.

Al Jazeera's Nisreen el Shamayleh reports from the village of Ghor Al Haditha.

[February 3, 2010]