The Aral Sea: The Worst Case Scenario The Aral Sea was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up by the 2010s. The name roughly translates as "Sea of Islands", referring to over 1,100 islands that had dotted its waters. #shorts #aralsea #wonderfulplaces #naturelovers #seasideview #naturelovers #informacion #exploreworld #touristguide #EnvironmentalTragedy What happened with the Aral Sea? 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. What was the main cause of the Aral Sea shrinking? Once the fourth largest lake in the world, Central Asia's shrinking Aral Sea has reached a new low, thanks to decades-old water diversions for irrigation and a more recent drought. Is the Aral Sea coming back? An ambitious restoration project is bringing back fish—and fishermen—to the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, National Geographic reports. The Aral Sea was once one of the world's largest freshwater lakes, supplying tens of thousands of tons of fish every year. Why is Aral Sea drying up? The ecosystem of the Aral Sea was destroyed mainly as a result of the increased salinity as well as the testing of weapons and other fertilizer run offs. The salinity of the water in the Aral sea was around 376 g/l by 1990 compared to the 35 g/l salinity of ordinary seawater. Can we refill the Aral Sea? Every river in this vast area drains into dusty deserts, or lakes like the Caspian and Aral Sea. The Aral Sea has been dwindling for decades, but one part of the lake is now growing again. Can we save the Aral Sea? “Unfortunately, we will not be able to return the Aral Sea to its initial size, but what we can do today is begin to restore the ecosystem, to help the people living there and the environment,” he reflected. How can we solve the Aral Sea crisis? By 2005 the World Bank and the government of Kazakhstan had designed and built a permanent eight-mile (13-kilometer) dam intended to raise the North Aral by about 13 feet (four meters), several feet shy of the level needed to refill Aralsk's harbor, but deep enough to drop salinity and allow native fish to repopulate. Who is fixing the Aral Sea? The Environmental Restoration of the Aral Sea is a three-year activity implemented by the USAID Regional Water and Vulnerable Environment Activity, with a budget of $1.35 million, from October 2021 to September 2024. What brought life back to the Aral Sea? 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. The project focused on dike repairs and construction of a massive new dam, Kokaral, splitting the North and South Aral Sea. How much
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