When it comes to environmental disasters, almost everyone immediately thinks of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion, a tragedy that left miles of empty land behind. However, few have heard of another disaster that may have caused no less significant damage to the environment. We are talking about the death of the Aral Sea, once a majestic and fourth-largest lake on the planet. In a few decades, it almost disappeared, leaving behind an endless desert. In this article, we will tell you how one of the most beautiful places in the world turned into almost nothing.
The Aral Sea is a place where hundreds of ships rust. Image source: mk-kz.kz
Contents
- 1 Where is the Aral Sea
- 2 Why is the Aral Sea a lake, not a sea
- 3 Why did the Aral Sea disappear
- 4 Consequences of the Aral Sea's disappearance
- 5 Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea
- 6 Is it possible to restore the Aral Sea?
Where is the Aral Sea?
The Aral Sea was once a majestic body of water that was located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. However, traces of its existence are still there, and conservationists are still trying to preserve what is left of it.
This huge lake was located in a lowland to the east of the Caspian Sea, and its life was supported by two powerful rivers – the Amu Darya and Syr Darya. Until 1960 The area of the Aral Seawas 68 thousand square kilometers, which made it the fourth largest lake in the world. Its length reached 435 kilometers and width 290 kilometers.
Aral Sea on the map. Image source: mdpi.com
The Aral Sea was a relatively young body of water. It was formed about 18 thousand years ago, as a result of melting glaciers and global warming, which significantly changed the climate and geography of the region. The average depth of the Aral Sea was about 16 meters, but in some places it reached 70 meters. In the middle of the 20th century, its water volume exceeded 1000 cubic kilometers, which emphasized the greatness of this unique reservoir.
Why is the Aral Sea a lake, not a sea
The Aral Sea, despite its impressive size and high salinity, was actually a lake. This is due to the fact that it had no outlet to the World Ocean and was surrounded by land on all sides.
Satellite image of the Aral Sea in 1964. Image source: wikimedia.org
Interestingly, the name “Aralskoye” comes from a Turkic word meaning “island”. This name was completely true: there were more than 1,100 islands in the waters of the Aral Sea. This unique body of water attracted the attention of not only scientists, but also travelers. Ultimately, its uniqueness became the reason for its disappearance.
Photo of the Aral Sea in the 1960s. Image source: dzen.ru
Why the Aral Sea Disappeared
The disappearance of the Aral Sea was the result of poor management of natural resources. Until the mid-20th century, the lake was actively used: ships sailed on its waters, fishing and tourism developed. However, this period of prosperity could not last forever.
An abandoned ship in the dried-up Aral Sea. Image source: wikimedia.org
After World War II, the country needed to rebuild, and much attention was focused on agriculture, particularly cotton and other water-intensive crops.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Virgin Lands Development program was launched, which included the creation of irrigation canals to irrigate lands suffering from drought. These canals received water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Unfortunately, this decision had a devastating effect on the Aral Sea, as the rivers that fed it began to dry up. Central Asia, with its low rainfall and arid territories, faced a catastrophe: the amount of water flowing into the sea decreased sharply.
The state of the Aral Sea in 1989 and 2014. Image source: wikipedia.org
Already in the 70s it became clear that the situation was critical: the water level in the sea was falling by 10-20 centimeters per year. Despite the efforts of scientists who proposed various solutions to save the Aral Sea, many of them remained only at the idea stage due to fears of worsening environmental problems. By the 1990s, the Aral Sea had split into two parts, and by the 2000s, the southern part began to disintegrate into small lakes.
Researchers also point out that in addition to human activity, the drying up of the sea was influenced by the fact that the water from the lake was literally absorbed into the ground.
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Consequences of the disappearance of the Aral Sea
By the late 1980s, the Aral Sea had shrunk to the point of causing serious environmental problems in Central Asia. Its water levels dropped sharply, and the remaining waters became increasingly salty and mineralized. This led to the death of many fish species, including sturgeon and carp, and led to the collapse of the region's fisheries.
The Disappeared Aral Sea Is Harming the Environment. Image source: musorniy.ru
As the Aral Sea shrank, the climate became drier, which had a negative impact on the lives of people living along its coast. Mass migration from these areas began: people left their homes in search of better living conditions. In addition, the wind, blowing salts and pesticides from the bottom of the dried-up sea, provoked dust storms. These substances polluted the air and caused many diseases among local residents, including throat cancer, anemia, and kidney failure.
Thus, the disappearance of the Aral Sea has not only destroyed its ecosystem, but has also caused serious problems for the people living in this region.
Renaissance Island in the Aral Sea
Another serious problem of the Aral Sea is Renaissance Island.
This island was once part of the Aral Sea, but in the early 21st century it became a peninsula due to the shallowing of the reservoir. During the Soviet era, it housed a secret biological weapons testing laboratory, where experiments were conducted with dangerous bacteria such as anthrax and bubonic plague. In the late 1980s, tons of biological weapons were buried on the island, leaving a serious ecological footprint and a threat to public health.
Abandoned city of Kantubek on Vozrozhdeniya Island. Image source: drive2.ru
Since the island joined the mainland, its area has increased significantly. Research conducted in 1999 showed the presence of live anthrax spores, which attracted the attention of specialists from the United States, who began work to clean up the area. The island, once teeming with fish and game, now recalls the terrible experiments and environmental disasters associated with its history.
The city of Kantubek is also known as Aralsk-7. Image source: stalkers.info
Read also: The most dangerous city in the USSR that almost no one knew about – Aralsk-7 (Kantubek)
Is it possible to restore the Aral Sea
The Aral Sea todaylooks nothing like it did in the 1960s. By 1989, it had split into two parts, the Small and Large Seas, and their water salinity had increased three times compared to its original level. By 1992, the area of these bodies of water had shrunk to 33,000 square kilometers, and the water level had dropped by 15 meters.
The governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have tried to reduce the use of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers to combat the environmental disaster, but these efforts have not been enough.
Kokaral Dam in the Aral Sea. Image source: orda.kz
At the beginning of the 21st century, the situation worsened: the eastern part of the sealost up to 80% of its volume. To save the remaining part, the Kokaral Dam was built, but this only accelerated the drying up of the southern part. Despite many international initiatives and projects, environmental degradation continues, and only in 2023 did the water level increase for the first time in a decade.
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Although in 2024, 2 billion cubic meters of water were directed into the Aral Sea. But much of the lake has already been lost, and the situation is unlikely to improve in the coming years due to climate change. Thus, the disappearance of the Aral Sea remains one of the greatest environmental disasters in human history.