Utah’s Great Salt Lake rings climate alarm bells over release of 4.1m tons of carbon dioxide

Study has found that the lake, which has lost 73% of its water, released climate-warming emissions

For years, scientists and environmental leaders have been raising alarm that the Great Salt Lake is headed toward a catastrophic decline.

Now, new research points to the lake's desiccating shores also becoming an increasingly significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have calculated that dried out portions of the lakebed released about 4.1m tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2020, based on samples collected over seven months that year.