XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: sfp@bns.com   
      
   For residents of Tunisia desperate to beat the heat, we've got   
   some really good news and some really bad news. The good is that   
   shepherds in a drought-stricken region near the city of Gafsa   
   stumbled upon an amazing thing: a brand-new lake that surfaced   
   in an otherwise barren territory, reports News.com.au.   
      
   It's spectacular, with rocks perfect for diving and water up to   
   65 feet deep, which is why hundreds of people have been flocking   
   daily to so-called "Gafsa Beach" since it was discovered three   
   weeks ago.   
      
   Oh, but the bad news: The water might kill you. "This lake is   
   located in an area rich in phosphate deposits, which leave   
   residue that is sometimes strongly radioactive," warns a report   
   in Tunisia Daily by Lakhdar Souid, as quoted in the Times of   
   India.   
      
   "So there is a real risk the water is contaminated and   
   carcinogenic." It's also a little worrisome that it's gone from   
   clear blue to hazy green, "meaning that the water is stagnant   
   and conducive to diseases," says Souid.   
      
   Last week, the government warned that the lake was unfit for   
   swimming, reports France24, but it did not put an official ban   
   into place as testing continues.   
      
   No word yet on how the lake formed, but one theory is that some   
   kind of seismic activity—perhaps related to the local phosphate   
   mining industry—jolted the water table.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/08/04/mysterious-lake-   
   appears-in-drought-stricken-tunisia/?intcmp=obnetwork   
      
               
      
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