Looming Emergency Over Dust Storms, Health Risks & a dying Great Salt Lake
January 21, 2025
Above: Dust on the Great Salt Lake. Credit: PBSUtah
The shrinking shorelines of the Great Salt Lake are exposing a huge community problem: Dust storms that create concerns ranging from bad air quality and poor health to negative impacts on snowmelt and agriculture. Who and where is most at risk?
A University of Utah research team may have the answer, andthey’ve invented a tool to predict what could be coming down the line. Utah Insight host Lauren Steinbrecher explores the emerging research and search for solutions; plus, how we can protect ourselves as the state finds ways to move forward.
by Lauren Steinbrecher
Utah Insight, PBSUtah
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Transcript:
On the edge of Syracuse, Utah, Dr. Kevin Perry unfurled a chain that clanked as it released its grip from a metal pole, opening a locked gate that guarded a non-descript dirt road.
The University of Utah Atmospheric Sciences professor embarked on his weekly research-gathering ritual that involves driving until the dirt road ends, then loading up a bicycle trailer and taking off toward his open-air lab—only accessible by bike, two and a half miles away.
Perry’s piece of Great Salt Lake research done by the University of Utah looks much different than that of his colleagues.
“Yes, I'm the one who gets to enjoy Mother Nature,” he said, with a smile.
Riding deep into the Great Salt Lake playa, Perry stopped after a quarter mile at a spot once only reachable by boat in Farmington Bay, and perfect for the day’s project.
Over the course of the last 30-plus years, the withering lake shoreline has turned the bay into a barren expanse.
“Farmington Bay is basically dried up, with the exception of the Jordan River that flows through,” Perry said.
“It's not being caused by drought. It's not being caused by climate change. It's being [caused] by overuse of water,” he explained.“We use 30% more water than what is sustainable for the lake.”
That overuse, he said, has exposed 800 square miles of lakebed.
Perry described the problem it creates: “When the wind gets strong and the playa is dry, it can create dust storms that go into the surrounding communities.”
Standing in an area visibly lighter than the ground around it, Perry categorized it as a “dust hotspot.”
“That indicates that it’s drier than the surroundings, and it has a thin crust on it,” he explained, kicking the ground and demonstrating how easily dust rose into the air.
Perry has painstakingly mapped out nearly 700 dust hot spots around the whole lake, and he’s conducted soil tests that revealed cancer-causing carcinogens in the lakebed.
“The one that we're most concerned about is arsenic,” the professor noted. “Every single measurement that I took over the 800 square miles of lakebed had higher arsenic concentrations in it than the EPA would deem healthy.”
How much higher?
“More than a factor of ten,” he answered.
Watch the entire story from PBSUtah Above or click here.
