Aral Sea
These pictures show the devastation to the Aral Sea shoreline and sea floor.
The Aral Sea (roughly translated as the "Sea of Islands") is a lake in Russia, once considered one of the world's four largest. But sadly, it is drying up very quickly. In the early 1960’s the local government diverted the two rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, that fed the Aral Sea. This was done to take much needed water to irrigate the nearby desert in an attempt to grow rice, melon, cereal and cotton. Although the project was temporarily successful, it ultimately led to the end to the large and prosperous lake.
The Aral Sea which once measured 26,300 square miles is drying up. It is currently at less than 10% of its original size. Its shrinking has been referred to as the one of the world's worst environmental disasters. The once prosperous fishing industry was destroyed, producing now less than one sixth of the fish it once provided.
The former sea floor now exposed is contaminated with salt and chemicals from years of abuse. The result is a toxic dust blown about by the wind and deposited into the heavily polluted area around it. Local crops are destroyed with the salt deposits and a wide assortment of diseases, including cancer and tuberculosis, threaten the people still living in the region.
Kazakhstan, in an attempt to save the Aral Sea, built a dam in 2005. By 2008, a difference could be seen and there is hope that fishing can once again begin.
The Aral Sea which once measured 26,300 square miles is drying up. It is currently at less than 10% of its original size. Its shrinking has been referred to as the one of the world's worst environmental disasters. The once prosperous fishing industry was destroyed, producing now less than one sixth of the fish it once provided.
The former sea floor now exposed is contaminated with salt and chemicals from years of abuse. The result is a toxic dust blown about by the wind and deposited into the heavily polluted area around it. Local crops are destroyed with the salt deposits and a wide assortment of diseases, including cancer and tuberculosis, threaten the people still living in the region.
Kazakhstan, in an attempt to save the Aral Sea, built a dam in 2005. By 2008, a difference could be seen and there is hope that fishing can once again begin.