Regional population growth and increasing water demands are the primary reasons the lake is drying up.

FORBES: Despite What You Hear, Global Warming Is Still Benefiting Africa

Water pollution, soil erosion, deforestation and desertification in the north, where rivers are drying up, have contributed to an estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949.

FORBES: Pollution And Prosperity

Over the years, he's been working on a technique called "plastination" that replaces the water and fat inside a body's tissues with polymers -- sticky, hard-drying plastics.

CNN: 'Death can tell us a lot about living,' mummy expert says

And the sudden drying up of capital gains is a critical cause of states and municipalities being in such fiscal hot water, even though the economic downturn has been rather mild by historic standards.

FORBES: Fact and Comment