What are the issues of the Aral Sea?
What are the issues of the Aral Sea?
The change in water quality in the Aral Sea basin reduced the number of fish in the river and in the sea, and destroyed most of fauna (2,3). International experts confirm that most water sources in Karakalpakstan are polluted, and that the pollution is mainly caused by the agro-industry and mining industries.
What caused damage to the Aral Sea?
Desiccation of the Aral Sea: A Water Management Disaster in the Soviet Union. The Aral Sea in the Soviet Union, formerly the world’s fourth largest lake in area, is disappearing. Recession has resulted from reduced inflow caused primarily by withdrawals of water for irrigation.
What are the main threats to the Aral Sea?
Environmental Impacts
- Water Levels. The primary effect of the Aral Sea desiccation has been the significant loss of water in the sea.
- Correlation of Salinity with Water Level.
- SST Changes.
- Desertification.
- Salinization of Soil.
- Dust Storms.
- Climate Change.
- Melting Glaciers.
Where is the problem in the Aral Sea?
A direct consequence of the desiccation of the sea was dramatic climate change, felt not only in Central Asia, but also in other regions. The Aral Sea crisis zone directly covers the territories of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, as well as indirectly – Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Is Aral Sea recovering?
The Aral Sea as a whole will never completely recover. The shoreline has radically changed, and the South Aral Sea remains almost completely desiccated. The North Aral Sea is recovering thanks to the $86 million Syr Darya Control and Northern Aral Sea project, funded by the Kazakh government and the World Bank.
Can Aral Sea be restored?
During the past three decades, restoration of the Aral Sea ecosystem has focused mainly on afforestation of the drained seabed to mitigate the sandstorms that cause erosion and further degrade the fragile soils. The Aral Sea assessment and action plan will be completed by late July 2021.
How can we fix the Aral Sea?
There is no work under way to restore the southern region. It has always looked like a lost cause. So Aladin says it will keep shrinking and getting saltier until only brine shrimp are left. Using less water to irrigate crops could restore the entire Aral Sea, says Micklin.
How can we solve the Aral Sea problem?
The Increase of subsurface runoff illd the additional water made avai I able by draining the flooded shoreline areas and reducing transpiration through rush and reed growths would prevent the Aral Sea from drying out even If the entire stream flow were diverted.
Can you swim in the Aral Sea?
The Aral Sea is not a place for sunbathing or swimming. It is a disaster zone, a scar on the Earth, showing what the human hand can do.
How can we save Aral Sea?
In 2017 the Government launched an initiative for a United Nations Multilateral Trust Fund for the Development of the Aral Sea Region and currently works to plant around two million hectares of new plantations and forests, and claim back the land from the desert.
Why did the Aral Sea dry up?
Because the Aral Sea relies on groundwater as its major inflow, diverting the river tributaries nearly caused the Aral Sea to dry up. The Aral Sea basin (area that is drained by the Aral Sea) includes Kazakhstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Afghanistan.
Why is the Aral Sea shrinking?
The Aral Sea began to quickly shrink because of the evaporation of its now unreplenished waters. By 1989 the Aral Sea had receded to form two separate parts, the “Greater Sea” in the south and the “Lesser Sea” in the north, each of which had a salinity almost triple that of the sea in the 1950s.
How did the Aral Sea shrink?
By the 1980s the rivers basically dried up at the base before they reached the Aral sea. Then because no water got to the Aral sea, the water was slowly evaporating and that caused the Aral sea to shrink. Ever since the Aral sea started to shrink the land around it has become very dry and salty.