阅读材料
The Salton Sea in California is actually a salty inland lake. The level of salt in the lake’s water—what scientists call its salinity—has been increasing steadily for years because the lake’s water is evaporating faster than it is being replaced by rainfall or rivers. If the trend continues, the lake’s water will soon become so salty that the lake will be unable to support fish and bird populations. The lake would then become essentially a dead zone. Fortunately, there are several ways to reverse the trend that is threatening the lake’s health.
One option is direct removal of salt from the lake’s water in special desalination facilities. Water from the lake would be pumped into the facilities and heated. This would cause the water to evaporate into steam, while salt and other materials dissolved in the water would be left behind. The steam would then be cooled down and returned to the lake as salt-free water. Gradually, the high salt levels would be reduced and the lake’s overall health would be restored.
Another possible solution is to dilute the salt level in the lake with water from the ocean. Since water in the Pacific Ocean is 20 percent less salty than water in the lake, bringing ocean water into the lake would decrease the lake’s salinity. The ocean water could be delivered through pipelines or canals.
Yet another solution would be to control the lake’s salinity by constructing walls to divide the lake into several sections. In the smaller sections, salinity would be allowed to increase. However, in the main and largest section, salinity would be reduced and controlled by, among other things, directing all the freshwater from small rivers in the area to flow into that main section of the lake.
Because the salinity in Salton Sea has increased for many years, many people try to fix this problem. In the reading passage, the author proposes three solutions for the this issue. However, the professor in the reading passage consider that these solutions are impractical.
First, she points out that evaporating all the water in lake is a dangerous way to deal with this issue, because not only the salt will be left, but also some toxic chemicals will be there. These harmful chemicals will be probably taken away by the wind and endanger people's health.
Second, the professor also considers that using the ocean to dilute the salty lake is unrealistic, because this method will cost lots of money and resource from the government. Moreover, it is impossible to build the pipe connecting to the lake and the Pacific Ocean, because the pipe is too long to.
Third, the third way mentioned in the reading passage might be worked. However, the professor says that this solution will only last for a short period, because earthquakes often happen in that area. The earthquake will damage the walls and ultimately make them collapse in one or two years, which will make salinity in the lake rise again.
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- The Salton Sea in California is actually a salty inland lake The level of salt in the lake s water what scientists call its salinity has been increasing steadily for years because the lake s water is evaporating faster than it is being replaced by rainfal
- The Salton Sea in California is actually a salty inland lake The level of salt in the lake s water what scientists call its salinity has been increasing steadily for years because the lake s water is evaporating faster than it is being replaced by rainfal