Great Salt Lake’s exposed lakebed is contributing to global warming, study says

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct a mathematical error. After publication, Soren Brothers clarified that 4.1 million tons is also 4.1 million metric tons. Hence, it does not need to be converted to metric tons, as previously published.

SALT LAKE CITY — Researchers have potentially uncovered yet another negative consequence of Great Salt Lake’s dry, exposed lakebed. 

A new study published in the journal “One Earth” suggests the dry lakebed is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, in turn contributing to global warming.

The study found between April and November 2020, the lakebed produced 4.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Researchers also found high levels of methane coming off the lakebed.

The lakebed alone increased Utah’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 7% that year, the study found.

“As far as we can tell the Great Salt Lake itself is not a big source of GHG emissions, if any —but, the dried-up lakebed definitely is,” said Soren Brothers, senior communicating author of the study.

Brothers told KSL NewsRadio the lakebed is not producing nearly as much greenhouse gas as other contributors in Utah, but, he said, “I think it’s big enough to definitely take note of.”

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Utah’s energy sector produced 57.4 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2020—14 times what researchers said the lakebed produced.

In April 2020, when researchers began their measurements, Great Salt Lake’s levels were around 4,194.7 feet above sea level. By the time the final measurements were taken in November, the lake had dropped 2.5 feet to 4,192.2 feet.

To compare, in April of this year, Great Salt Lake stood at 4,194.9 feet. Today, it sits at 4,193.7 feet.

In July 2020, the lake was just inches lower than it is now at 4,193.5 feet.

The lake hit an all-time record low of 4,188.5 feet in November 2022, which is more than 5 feet lower than where the water levels sit today.

Amid the lake’s declining water levels over the last several years, scientists have uncovered numerous negative impacts from the drying lakebed and the dust that comes off of it —namely its impact on Utah’s air quality and people living along the Wasatch Front.

Scientists have also found numerous toxins in the lakebed dust, including arsenic, mercury and cadmium.

Other research suggests the struggling lake levels affect how much rain and snow falls in the Great Salt Lake Basin. Another study suggests that lakebed dust helps toxic algal blooms thrive in other Utah waterbodies.

Today, the lake sits more than 4 feet below 4,198 feet, the level where officials said its healthy range begins.

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