{"id":592,"date":"2018-09-06T10:24:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T14:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/chapter\/7-5-case-study-the-aral-sea-going-going-gone\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T17:31:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T21:31:54","slug":"7-5-case-study-the-aral-sea-going-going-gone","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/chapter\/7-5-case-study-the-aral-sea-going-going-gone\/","title":{"raw":"6.5 Case Study: The Aral Sea - Going, Going, Gone","rendered":"6.5 Case Study: The Aral Sea – Going, Going, Gone"},"content":{"raw":" \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"549\"]\"AralSea1989 Figure 1. A comparison of the Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right). Credit:\u00a0This work<\/a>\u00a0is in the Public Domain, CC0<\/a>[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Aral Sea is a lake located east of the Caspian Sea between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in central Asia.\u00a0This area is part of the Turkestan desert, which is the\u00a0fourth largest desert in the world; it is produced from a rain shadow effect by Afghanistan's high mountains\u00a0to the south. Due to the arid and seasonally hot climate there is extensive evaporation and limited surface\u00a0waters in general. Summer temperatures can reach 60\u03bf<\/sup>C\u00a0(140\u03bf<\/sup>F)! The water supply to the Aral Sea is\u00a0mainly from two rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which carry snow melt from mountainous areas. In\u00a0the early 1960s, the then-Soviet Union diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers for irrigation of one of\u00a0the driest parts of Asia to produce rice, melons, cereals, and especially cotton. The Soviets wanted cotton\u00a0or white gold to become a major export. They were successful, and, today Uzbekistan is one of the world's\u00a0largest exporters of cotton. Unfortunately, this action essentially eliminated any river inflow to the Aral Sea\u00a0and caused it to disappear almost completely.\r\n
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"348\"]\"\" Figure 2. Map of Aral Sea Area Map shows lake size in 1960 and political boundaries of 2011. Countries in yellow are at least partially in Aral Sea drainage basin. Source: Wikimedia Commons[\/caption]\r\n

In 1960, Aral Sea was the fourth largest inland water body; only the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, and\u00a0Lake Victoria were larger. Since then, it has progressively shrunk due to evaporation and lack of recharge\u00a0by rivers. Before 1965, the Aral Sea received 2060\u00a0km3\u00a0<\/sup>of fresh water per year from rivers and by the early 1980s it received none. By 2007, the Aral Sea\u00a0shrank to about 10% of its original size and its salinity increased from about 1% dissolved salt to about 10%\u00a0dissolved salt, which is 3 times more saline than seawater. These changes caused an enormous environmental\u00a0impact. A once thriving fishing industry is dead as are the 24 species of fish that used to live there; the fish\u00a0could not adapt to the more saline waters. The current shoreline is tens of kilometers from former fishing towns and commercial ports. Large fishing boats lie in the dried up lakebed of dust and salt.\u00a0A frustrating part of the river diversion project is that many of the\u00a0irrigation canals were poorly built, allowing abundant water to leak or evaporate. An increasing number of\u00a0dust storms blow salt, pesticides, and herbicides into nearby towns causing a variety of respiratory illnesses\u00a0including tuberculosis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"657\"]\"\" Figure 3. This abandoned ship lies in a dried up lake bed that was the Aral Sea near Aral, Kazakhstan Source: Staecker at Wikimedia Commons[\/caption]\r\n

The wetlands of the two river deltas and their associated ecosystems have disappeared. The regional\u00a0climate is drier and has greater temperature extremes due to the absence of moisture and moderating\u00a0influence from the lake. In 2003, some lake restoration work began on the northern part of the Aral Sea\u00a0and it provided some relief by raising water levels and reducing salinity somewhat. The southern part of\u00a0the Aral Sea has seen no relief and remains nearly completely dry. The destruction of the Aral Sea is one\u00a0of the planet's biggest environmental disasters and it is caused entirely by humans. Lake Chad in Africa is\u00a0another example of a massive lake that has nearly disappeared for the same reasons as the Aral Sea. Aral\u00a0Sea and Lake Chad are the most extreme examples of large lakes destroyed by unsustainable diversions of\u00a0river water. Other lakes that have shrunk significantly due to human diversions of water include the Dead\u00a0Sea in the Middle East, Lake Manchar in Pakistan, and Owens Lake and Mono Lake, both in California.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Attribution<\/h4>\r\nEssentials of Environmental Science<\/a>\u00a0by Kamala Dor\u0161ner<\/a> is licensed under CC BY 4.0<\/a>. Modified from the original.","rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"AralSea1989
Figure 1. A comparison of the Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right). Credit:\u00a0This work<\/a>\u00a0is in the Public Domain, CC0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Aral Sea is a lake located east of the Caspian Sea between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in central Asia.\u00a0This area is part of the Turkestan desert, which is the\u00a0fourth largest desert in the world; it is produced from a rain shadow effect by Afghanistan’s high mountains\u00a0to the south. Due to the arid and seasonally hot climate there is extensive evaporation and limited surface\u00a0waters in general. Summer temperatures can reach 60\u03bf<\/sup>C\u00a0(140\u03bf<\/sup>F)! The water supply to the Aral Sea is\u00a0mainly from two rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which carry snow melt from mountainous areas. In\u00a0the early 1960s, the then-Soviet Union diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers for irrigation of one of\u00a0the driest parts of Asia to produce rice, melons, cereals, and especially cotton. The Soviets wanted cotton\u00a0or white gold to become a major export. They were successful, and, today Uzbekistan is one of the world’s\u00a0largest exporters of cotton. Unfortunately, this action essentially eliminated any river inflow to the Aral Sea\u00a0and caused it to disappear almost completely.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 2. Map of Aral Sea Area Map shows lake size in 1960 and political boundaries of 2011. Countries in yellow are at least partially in Aral Sea drainage basin. Source: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1960, Aral Sea was the fourth largest inland water body; only the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, and\u00a0Lake Victoria were larger. Since then, it has progressively shrunk due to evaporation and lack of recharge\u00a0by rivers. Before 1965, the Aral Sea received 2060\u00a0km3\u00a0<\/sup>of fresh water per year from rivers and by the early 1980s it received none. By 2007, the Aral Sea\u00a0shrank to about 10% of its original size and its salinity increased from about 1% dissolved salt to about 10%\u00a0dissolved salt, which is 3 times more saline than seawater. These changes caused an enormous environmental\u00a0impact. A once thriving fishing industry is dead as are the 24 species of fish that used to live there; the fish\u00a0could not adapt to the more saline waters. The current shoreline is tens of kilometers from former fishing towns and commercial ports. Large fishing boats lie in the dried up lakebed of dust and salt.\u00a0A frustrating part of the river diversion project is that many of the\u00a0irrigation canals were poorly built, allowing abundant water to leak or evaporate. An increasing number of\u00a0dust storms blow salt, pesticides, and herbicides into nearby towns causing a variety of respiratory illnesses\u00a0including tuberculosis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 3. This abandoned ship lies in a dried up lake bed that was the Aral Sea near Aral, Kazakhstan Source: Staecker at Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wetlands of the two river deltas and their associated ecosystems have disappeared. The regional\u00a0climate is drier and has greater temperature extremes due to the absence of moisture and moderating\u00a0influence from the lake. In 2003, some lake restoration work began on the northern part of the Aral Sea\u00a0and it provided some relief by raising water levels and reducing salinity somewhat. The southern part of\u00a0the Aral Sea has seen no relief and remains nearly completely dry. The destruction of the Aral Sea is one\u00a0of the planet’s biggest environmental disasters and it is caused entirely by humans. Lake Chad in Africa is\u00a0another example of a massive lake that has nearly disappeared for the same reasons as the Aral Sea. Aral\u00a0Sea and Lake Chad are the most extreme examples of large lakes destroyed by unsustainable diversions of\u00a0river water. Other lakes that have shrunk significantly due to human diversions of water include the Dead\u00a0Sea in the Middle East, Lake Manchar in Pakistan, and Owens Lake and Mono Lake, both in California.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Attribution<\/h4>\n

Essentials of Environmental Science<\/a>\u00a0by Kamala Dor\u0161ner<\/a> is licensed under CC BY 4.0<\/a>. Modified from the original.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":515,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-592","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":586,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/515"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":938,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/592\/revisions\/938"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/586"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/592\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=592"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=592"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/environmentalissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}