From the New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernici. This is the Daily.

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is drying up, creating a bowl of toxic dust, the

threatens to poison the air in one of the nation's fastest growing metro areas.

Today, my colleague Christopher Flaville, on the struggle to avert that catastrophe.

It's Friday, July 22.

So Chris, you cover climate for the New York Times. Tell me why you decided to go to Utah.

So, at the beginning of the year, I started hearing stories about what's happening with the Great Salt Lake.

And in particular, this fear that it was beginning to try up.

Our top story this morning, the levels of the Great Salt Lake have tied the record low that was set back in 1963.

They had a record low last summer.

This week, the Great Salt Lake has been flirting with historic low levels.

Which caused everyone to suddenly sit up and pay attention.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has now declared a state of emergency and called on the people of Utah to reduce their water use and pray for rain.

And start to ask themselves, what would actually happen if this lake disappeared?

Okay, so let's start with the lake itself. When you say the name, I think Utah because of Salt Lake City.

But otherwise, I'm not sure I know very much about this lake.

Sure.

Covering 1700 square miles is the largest American lake west of the Mississippi.

Picture a gargantuan body of water that really defines the northern half of Utah.

What makes Great Salt Lake so unique is that its water is up to five times saltier than the ocean.

It is, at the name suggests, heavily salty.

The eastern shore of Great Salt Lake is America's Serengeti for migratory birds.

...