The Aral Sea Crisis

Introduction

• Fishing boat in Central Asia's saltwater lake (Aral Sea).
• Deserted bioweapons facility in a toxic desert in Central Asia.
• Human activity turned a vibrant ecosystem into a wasteland.

Geographic Background

• Aral Sea: saltwater lake in Central Asia, east of Caspian Sea.
• Area has a desert continental climate: hot summers, cold winters, sparse rainfall (4 inches/year).
• Main water sources: Sir Darya (Kazakhstan) and Amu Darya (Uzbekistan).
• 1960s: 4th largest lake in the world (68,000 sq km).
• Present: only 10% of original area, a major ecological disaster.

Human Impact and Geopolitics

• Disappearance due to human activities, not natural phenomena.
• Located in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, previously USSR territory (1925-1990).
• 1948: USSR's Great Plan for Transformation of Nature initiated by Communist Party and Joseph Stalin.
• Propaganda: nature subject to the party's commands, rivers to become machines.
• Major rivers diverted for cotton irrigation: Soviets aimed to make cotton a major export.
• Poor quality irrigation canals led to inefficiency: water leaked or evaporated.
• 1960s: 20-60 cubic kilometers of water diverted annually.
• 1988: Uzbekistan becomes the largest cotton exporter.
• Ecological cost: Aral Sea's water level drops by 50 feet, increased salinity killed fauna and fishing industry.

Environmental and Health Consequences

• Pesticides and fertilizers polluted the shrinking sea.
• Dust storms carried salt and chemicals, affecting local inhabitants and agriculture.
• Vozrozhdeniya Island: Soviet bioweapons facility, outbreaks of smallpox, plague, typhus.
• 1988: 100-200 tons of anthrax slurry dumped, later neutralized but contamination continued.

Post-USSR Actions and Current Status

• Regional governments failed to coordinate, further water depletion.
• Lake split into pools: North Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) preserved, South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) further depleted.
• Kazakhstan's dike construction led to partial recovery and fishing industry revival.
• Uzbekistan's reliance on cotton hindered restoration projects.
• West Aral Sea: some water remains from groundwater replenishment.
• Eastern basin of South Aral Sea: completely dried up by 2015.

Future Prospects

• Dependent on political support (currently lacking).
• Cotton industry's socio-economic importance in the region is a significant obstacle.
• Central Asian saying: "where there is no water, there is no life" reflects the harsh reality.
• The Aral Sea crisis: both an environmental and human disaster.