Across all this land there once was water. Over the past decade the Dead Sea has been shrinking rapidly, by as much as one metre each year. This is because of sustained resource deterioration, caused by both the diversion of the Jordan river in the north and the mineral mining industry in the south. The deterioration has led to craters, or sinkholes, appearing; these formations sometimes draw sweet waters, and where there is freshwater, there is hope for new life.