Activity 2.2 – Hydrosphere: Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

 

                                                     (NASA,1977)

                                               (Barcroft, 1999)

                                            (Google Earth, 2023)

Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan year 1977 to 2023

Problem

The Aral Sea has become drier and drier as the years pass. The once vast and plentiful lake was one of the four biggest lakes in the world. The lake today is now full of agricultural pesticides and is unsuitable for fishing like it once was many years ago. The slow decimation of this lake has resulted in many environmental issues for the surrounding areas and has even affected the climate. Winters have become colder than they once were and summers even hotter and drier without the presence of water. Because the loose salt that was once contained in the lake's water was now dry, it has blown into the surrounding areas causing issues with the farmlands and has posed health risks to humans. To combat this, more water is used on the farmlands to balance out the levels of salt in the fields, but that has only worsened the conditions of the lake in an endless cycle.

Explanation

In the 60s, the Soviet Union wanted to make rice and cotton farmlands using two lakes, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya that flowed from the mountains and pooled into the Aral Sea. Because of this, the Aral Sea progressively received less water and began to shrink. Despite the desert teaming with farmland, the Aral Sea would continue to dry out causing future environmental conflicts. Last minute conservation efforts have been made, a dam was built to help bring more water into the lake. And it has posed some success in maintaining and pooling into what is now known as the North Aral Sea. However, this seems to be a very slow process in what feels like an uphill battle. With the amount of damage done to the lake, it would take some time for the Lake to reflect the great sea it once was.

References

Visible Earth. (1977) Aral Sea. Aral Sea (nasa.gov)

Barcroft. (2010, July 3). Revealed: Shocking satellite images of lakes show extent of man's impact on world's water supply. Daily Mail. Shocking extent of man's impact on world's water | Daily Mail Online

Google Earth. (2023) Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Google Earth

World of Change: Shrinking Aral Sea (nasa.gov)

Earth Observatory. (n.d). World of Change: Shrinking Aral Sea. NASA. September 14, 2023, World of Change: Shrinking Aral Sea (nasa.gov)

Myer, J. (2020, February 21). This Central Asian lake is a stark reminder of the impact we have on the planet. World Economic Forum. These satellite images show how humans made the Aral Sea almost disappear | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)