People living near California’s Salton Sea were used to experiencing unpleasant odors coming off the lake in the late summer. But now, according to new research, that smell seems to be blanketing the area for almost half the year. The stench, caused by high hydrogen sulfide levels that emanate from the decaying, rapidly shrinking sea, has been detected in higher frequency for as many as five or six months per year as opposed to just once a year, according to a new study from UC Riverside that was first reported on by the Palm Springs Desert Sun.