California’s largest lake dries up, threatening communities with toxic dust

I'm from Denmark, but I lived in San Diego for a while. Between a bit of offroading and weekend trips, I have spent more time in Imperial Valley than most "tourists."

I find it a deeply fascinating place. Whenever I showed visitors around in California, I would take them past Salton Sea. Not only is Salvation Mountain an interesting place, the vibe of the entire valley seems special. Most tourists from Europe see only the coast, the big cities, and perhaps a couple of the larger national parks. The contrast from those places to Imperial Valley is stark. Everybody I brought there appreciated the experience.

I did know that Salton Sea was polluted (5 minutes in Bombay Beach will convince you), but I did not know it was as bad at this article portrays.