Reclaiming the Aral Sea
- The Aral Sea is located in Central Asia, It was the fourth largest lake in 1960.
- Almost all of the water in the Aral Sea comes from the Amu and Syr Rivers. As years past the Amu river drifted away, causing the Aral Sea to become smaller.
- Water was being used for irrigation.
- Volume fell from 708 cubic kilometers to 75 cubic kilometers. Salinity also rose from 14 g/liter to 100+ g/liter.
- Lake was divided in 1991 due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
- Wetlands received less freshwater and reduced enriched sediment, and a drop in fish species due to water salinity.
- The receding sea exposed 54,000 sq. kilometers of seabed, which contained salt and in some cases pesticides and agricultural chemicals.
- The only way to return the Aral Sea to it's original state is to reduce irrigation. Changing from water intensive crops to less water-intensive crops.
Back in 1960 the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world. Now it has shrunken so much that there has been a large change in the ecosystem that can live there. Most of the water in the Aral Sea came from the Amu and Syr Rivers, but as the Amu river started to drift away, the sea started to recede. The sea was divided into two bodies, the Large Aral and the Small Aral. The total volume of the water also dropped by almost 90% and the salinity increased ten fold. The Aral see saw many changes that changed the ecosystem around it. The wetlands no longer received the water they needed, fish species declined, and groundwater levels dropped. The Soviet Union hid the sea's troubles all the way until 1985.
It doesn't really makes sense to me why you would hide the sea's problem for such a long time. If the public had known about it earlier, something could have been done about it. Information about public things, such as lakes and forests should not withheld. The Aral Sea provided a lot to the area, but then was just allowed to die because no one did anything. While it is returning to it's original state, it should have never left it in the first place. Also considering the location of the Sea, water intensive crops shouldn't be grown there in the first place.