Something's happening at the lowest point on our planet, some 1,388 feet below sea level.

在地球上海拔最低的湖泊、海平面以下1388英尺的地方，一些事情正在悄然发生。

The Dead Sea, a salt lake nestled by Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, is shrinking at an alarming rate -- about 3.3 feet per year, according to the environmentalist¹ group EcoPeace Middle East. And human actions are largely to blame.

位于以色列和约旦河西岸交界地区的盐水湖死海，正在以令人担忧的速度萎缩--据环保组织“中东生态和平”称，其湖面每年下降3.3英尺，这主要是人为造成的。

"It's not just like one country is punishing the Dead Sea; it's more like the whole region," said photographer Moritz Küstner, who visited the area in February to work on his series "The Dying Dead Sea."

摄影师莫里茨·屈斯特纳表示：“并非是单个国家在破坏死海，更确切的说，这是整个区域性的行为。”他曾在今年2月到访死海，以完成他的“正在死去的死海”系列摄影。

The Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it, such as the Jordan River basin. But around the 1960s, some of the water sources it relied upon were diverted.

死海需要从周边其他天然水源，比如约旦河流域等获取水，然而，上世纪60年代，死海赖以生存的部分流域遭到了改道。

Mineral extraction industries are another main reason the water levels are declining, experts say. The Dead Sea's minerals have been hailed for their therapeutic² properties and can often be found in cosmetics³ and other consumer products.

专家表示，矿物开采是死海水位下降又一主因。死海中富含的矿物因其良好的疗效而受到欢迎，常被添加在护肤品以及其它消费品上。

And then, of course, there's the Middle East's hot, dry climate, which makes it difficult for the lake to replenish⁴ itself.

此外，中东炎热的天气、干燥的气候，也使得死海很难能够重新积蓄水分。

Last year, Israel and Jordan signed a $900 million deal in an effort to stabilize⁵ the Dead Sea's water levels.

去年，以色列和约旦签署了一项高达9亿美元的协议，致力于稳定死海的水位。

It entails⁶ building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea so that both countries would be able to not only supply water to Israel and Jordan but also to pump much needed water -- some 300 million cubic meters annually⁷ -- into the Dead Sea.

其中包括修建一条由红海通向死海的水道，这样不仅能够同时满足以色列和约旦两国的供水需求，还可以向死海输送其所需要的水--大约每年3亿立方。

"This is the most important and significant agreement since the peace treaty with Jordan (in 1994)," said Silvan Shalom, Israel's energy and water resources minister at the time.

“自与约旦（在1994年）签订和约以来，没有任何协议比这项协议最为重要，更为意义深远，”时任以色列能源及水资源部部长西尔万·沙洛姆说道。

Whether the canal -- estimated to take three years to complete -- will work out positively⁸ and as planned remains⁹ to be seen.

至于这条水道——预计需要3年才能建成——是否能起到积极的作用以及达成预期的效果，仍需我们拭目以待。