The city of Palm Springs, California is a resort city famous for its luxury residential homes. There was a time when another area in the same state of America was dubbed “the next Palm Springs”, but now this doomed place has been abandoned and the smell of dead fish is everywhere.
The shrinking Salton Sea in Imperial County was once considered a tourist destination, but has now become host to deadly algae blooms, harmful air and an endless stream of dust. In fact, the amount of brown-beige dust in the Southern California county is now so high that locals often wake up at night with purple skin and are not able to talk due to the noxious air.
The Salton Sea is reportedly shrinking due to decades of climate change-induced drought and rising temperatures. Every year it gets smaller, newly exposed arsenic-laden shoreline leaches into the atmosphere, killing fish and sickening humans. Hospitalization rates for children with asthma living near the ocean are among the highest in the state. This is twice the average, with one in five children suffering from this condition.
This city has been completely ruined by climate pollution. (Symbolic photo: Wikimedia Commons)
People have also commented about this dangerous place on the social media platform Reddit. One user wrote, “I went to the Salton Sea to clean a family member’s house after they passed away. Didn’t see a single car or person on the road that entire weekend. Felt very scary.”
Another person agreed, pointing out that there are many incredibly scary or rundown towns around the Salton Sea. In the mid-20th century, resorts were built throughout the shoreline by developers trying to make it the next Palm Springs. Toxic runoff from surrounding farms and increasing salinity killed all the wildlife in and around the lake. To this day, everywhere smells like dead fish. Most of the area looks post-apocalyptic.
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 5, 2024, 16:52 IST
