Editing Great Salt Lake (section)

===Shrinking===
Drought conditions, [[climate change]], and the overuse of snowmelt have caused the Great Salt Lake to shrink considerably.<ref name=bloomberg_0722>{{cite news |last1=Yeung |first1=Peter |title=Salt Lake City Confronts a Future Without a Lake |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-07-08/drought-leaves-salt-lake-city-with-a-looming-water-crisis?sref=CIpmV6x8 |access-date=14 July 2022 |publisher =Bloomberg.com |date=8 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> As of July 2022, the Great Salt Lake occupies approximately {{convert|950|mi2|km2}}.<ref name=bloomberg_0722/><ref name=nasa_0821>{{cite web|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148700/record-low-for-great-salt-lake|title=Record Low for Great Salt Lake|first=Michael|last=Carlowicz|work=NASA Earth Observatory|date=August 18, 2021}}</ref> In 1987, it occupied about {{convert|3300| mi2|km2}}.<ref name=bloomberg_0722/> As of March 2023, the lake's highest recorded surface elevation was {{convert|4,211.2|ft|m}} For comparison, on April 15, 1987; the lowest recorded surface elevation was {{convert|4,188.5|ft|m}} on December 17, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Great Salt Lake Hydro Mapper |url=https://webapps.usgs.gov/gsl/data.html |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=webapps.usgs.gov}}</ref> In 2023, scientists at Brigham Young University estimated that without policy changes, the lake would dry up in 2028, with local species killed off by overly salty water somewhat before that.<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate change and a population boom could dry up the Great Salt Lake in 5 years |website=[[NPR]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603225101/https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1153550793/climate-change-and-a-population-boom-could-dry-up-the-great-salt-lake-in-5-years |archive-date=2023-06-03 |url-status=live |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1153550793/climate-change-and-a-population-boom-could-dry-up-the-great-salt-lake-in-5-years}}</ref><ref name="BYU">{{cite web | url=https://pws.byu.edu/GSL%20report%202023 | title=Emergency measures needed to rescue Great Salt Lake from ongoing collapse | accessdate=July 30, 2023 | author1=Abbott, Benjamin | display-authors=1 | author2=Baxter, Bonnie}}</ref> Continued shrinkage could also turn the lake into a bowl of toxic dust, poisoning the air around [[Salt Lake City]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Flavelle |first1=Christopher |last2=Tarnowski |first2=Bryan |date=2022-06-07 |title=As the Great Salt Lake Dries Up, Utah Faces An 'Environmental Nuclear Bomb' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/climate/salt-lake-city-climate-disaster.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 

Environmentalists proposed establishing a level of {{cvt|4,200|ft|1}} above sea level as an official state policy, among other interventions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a46b200bff2007bcca6fcf4/t/653944b92ed3f805d5cd80e9/1698251983729/The+4%2C200+Project+Guidebook.pdf |title=The 4200 Guidebook - An advocacy manual to raise the Great Salt Lake to a sustainable level for future generations of Americans |author=Utah Rivers Council |date=2023}}</ref> University of Utah researchers<ref>[https://gardner.utah.edu/great-salt-lake-strike-team/ Great Salt Lake Strike Team]</ref> proposed a level between 4,198 and 4,205 feet.<ref name="more" /> A non-binding resolution in the state legislature to adopt 4,198 feet was voted down and governor [[Spencer Cox (politician)|Spencer Cox]] called it "dumb".<ref name="more">{{cite news |url=https://www.kuer.org/politics-government/2023-10-25/last-winter-was-good-to-great-salt-lake-but-utah-rivers-council-says-more-can-be-done |title=Last winter was good to Great Salt Lake, but Utah Rivers Council says more can be done |publisher=[[KUER]] |author=Saige Miller |date=October 27, 2023}}</ref>