By Philip Micklin and Nikolay V. Aladin
Notes
- Recklessly starving the world's fourth-largest lake to irrigate crops turned rich waters into a barren wasteland
- Today heavy irrigation for crops such as cotton and rice siphons off much of the two rivers, severely cutting flow into their deltas and thus into the sea
- The Soviet Union hid the sea's demise for decades until 1985, when leader Mikhail Gorbachev revealed the great environmental and human tragedy
- By the late 1980s the sea's level had dropped so much that the water had seperated into two distinct bodies: the Small Aral (north) and the Large Aral (south)
- Fish species in the lakes dropped from 32 to six because of rising salinity and loss of spawning and feeding grounds (most survived in the river deltas)
- Shipping on the Aral also ceased because the water receded many kilometers from the major ports of Aralsk to the north and Moynak in the south; keeping increasingly long channels open to the cities became too costly
- The receding sea has exposed and dried 54,000 square kilometers of seabed, which is choked with salt and in some places laced with pesticides and other agricultural chemicals deposited by runoff from area farming
- Health experts say the local population suffers from high levels of respiratory illnesses, throat and esophageal cancer, and digestive disorders caused by breathing and ingesting saltladen air and water
- Returning the entire Aral Sea to its 1960s state is unreleastic
- Kazakhstan has nonetheless tried to partially restore the northern Aral
- Heavy runoff from the Syr River in the ensuing winter jumpstarted the Small Aral's recovery
- Marshlands and fish populations would improve even more because of a further reduction in salinity
- Outflow to the southern lakes could also increase, helping their restoration
- The Large Aral faces a difficult future; it continues to shrink rapidly. Only a long, narrow channel connects the shallow eastern basin and the deeper western basin, and this could close altogether
- The western basin's fate depends on groundwater inflow, estimates for which are uncertain
- The Soviet Union began such work in the late 1980s, and Uzbekistan has continued this effort with the help of international donors
- Until recently, many observers considered the Aral Sea a lost cause. Progress in the north, however, convincingly demonstrates that sizable parts of the remnant sea can be made ecologically and economically productive
Summary
The Aral Sea which is the world's fourth-largest lake that irrigates crops is now suffering as it is turning rich waters into a barren wasteland. The heavy irrigation for crops (rice and cotton) has now gone to waste with the events that have occurred in this once great sea. It was hidden for decades by the Soviet Union until 1985, when leader Mikhail Gorbachev revealed the great environmental and human tragedy. During the times of the 1980s, the sea's level had dropped so severely that the water had seperated into different bodies of water of the Aral Sea: North and South. This soon created multiple negative effects due to being a huge impact as shipping on the Aral ceased due to the water receded many kilometers from the major ports of Aralsk to the north and Moynak in the south; keeping increasingly long channels open to the cities became too costly. Although many want to restore the Aral Sea to how it was in the 1960s, it is surely unrealistic at this point due to its current condition and will stay like that for awhile. The Large Aral faces a difficult future; it continues to shrink rapidly. Only a long, narrow channel connects the shallow eastern basin and the deeper western basin, and could close altogether.
Opinion
In my opinion I think this is a terrible tragedy as one of the world's largest lakes is being affected and is creating numerous effects onto the environment. I found it shocking that one lake can lead to so much issues going on such as the effects of irrigation on the crops suffering due to the rich waters becoming into a barren wasteland. The preservation or resolving of the lake should be a high priority as much of our crops are at risk with ports being hurt as well which isn't helping the matter either. Although it may sound impossible to do, what is really important is that we need to try and bring it back to its state during the times of the 1960 if we want a surefire solution to this problem. Without figuring out a solution, there would be more consequences to occur if nothing is done.