THE DESERT SUN - Humidity, hot winds and the decaying Salton Sea have long been been a recipe for nostril and stomach misery during the summer across large swaths of the eastern Coachella Valley.
But now, an analysis of 20 years worth of records by a UC Riverside laboratory shows a disturbing new trend: The noxious odor is hanging around at detectable lower levels year-round.
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"The Salton Sea is experiencing a 'regime shift' that affects sulfide emissions and, consequently, the surrounding communities," said doctoral student Caroline Hung of the Lyons Biogeochemistry Lab at UCR's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in an email. She is currently preparing an academic manuscript on the group's findings.