00:00In 1960, we could fish here.
00:04Today, the boats are on the sable,
00:07at more than 100km of the water.
00:10The mer d'Aral a sea,
00:12and it was not an accident.
00:16The summer of 2026 could bring
00:1810 to 12 huge storms of toxic toxic
00:22of the Aralcoum.
00:23Maybe the worst season of the storm, Conny.
00:26And it could touch millions of inhabitants of the region.
00:32The Aral was the fourth lake of the world.
00:35At present, it almost disappeared.
00:39The Aral is between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
00:43Malgré son nom,
00:45it was a sea lake,
00:47with the ocean.
00:50Two big rivers,
00:51the Amudaria and the Sirdaria,
00:53the Alimenter for thousands of years.
00:57Jusqu'aux années 1960,
00:59when we destroyed the seas of the seas
01:01to cultivate the desert.
01:04Especially the cotton.
01:06The big boats destroyed the seas.
01:08And all this water had no time to reach the lake.
01:12The mer d'Aral started to get very quickly.
01:16Moins of water arrived,
01:17plus the river reculated.
01:22In the sea,
01:28the mer d'Aral
01:29has lost nearly 90% of its size.
01:34But the worst was ailleurs.
01:36The sea lake became a new desert,
01:39the Aralcoum.
01:41Today,
01:43it covers about 62 000 km.
01:46It's about the size
01:47of the Virginian Occidental.
01:50The wind blew the sea sec
01:52and unleashed the sea and sable.
01:55These sea portent
01:56the water,
01:57the water,
01:58the water,
01:59the fields and farms.
02:02The air has impacted,
02:04the cultures mourned
02:05and the inhabitants have begun
02:06to suffer severe problems
02:08of health.
02:10Today,
02:11we're trying to slow down this catastrophe.
02:14One idea,
02:15plant it
02:15on the ground
02:16on the ground
02:17on the ground.
02:20These plants
02:21do the desert help
02:22to fix the soil,
02:23so the wind
02:24makes it less easily.
02:26Unfortunately,
02:27it will not make it
02:28the mer d'Aral.
02:30But it will be a slowdown.
02:34The new image
02:35satellite
02:36of the European Space Agency
02:37show how much
02:39the damage
02:39are extreme.
02:40In the middle of the landscape,
02:42there is a big void
02:44in the place of the lake.
02:46The images of March 2025
02:48show the west of the lake
02:50very low,
02:52and that the part
02:53is almost entirely disappeared.
02:57In the middle of the lake,
02:58only a little bit
02:58of the lake
02:59is still alive.
03:01It is the
03:01Little Mer
03:02of Aral,
03:03in Kazakhstan.
03:04In the summer,
03:05there are even zones
03:06as well.
03:07And the south
03:08could soon disappear.
03:09The Little Mer
03:11of Aral
03:12could still be saved.
03:14A big project
03:16is the bridge
03:16Coccarral.
03:18In the sky,
03:19it forms
03:19two trees
03:20brun
03:20to the south-est
03:21of the Little Aral.
03:25The bridge
03:26was finished in 2005,
03:28and its role
03:29is simple.
03:30To prevent
03:31the water
03:31from the south
03:32and keep it
03:33in the north part
03:34of the north.
03:36Surprise!
03:37This plan
03:38has better worked
03:40since the bridge.
03:43the Aral
03:43has gained
03:44about 4 mètres
03:45of the water.
03:47The sea has been
03:48down.
03:49The poissons
03:50have begun
03:50to come back.
03:52Some villages
03:53of fishing
03:54revives.
03:56They are
03:57far away
03:57from the big lake
03:58past.
03:59The drama
04:00of the Aral
04:01is one of the worst
04:02ecological disasters.
04:04In the south,
04:06the historical
04:06historic
04:07has suffered a lot.
04:09It was a rich
04:11region,
04:11rivers,
04:13rivers,
04:14rivers,
04:14forests
04:14and fish.
04:16Today,
04:17the vastes
04:18areas seem
04:18post-apocalyptic.
04:21When the
04:22toxic pollution
04:23has touched
04:23the land,
04:24the land
04:27has fallen
04:27in crisis.
04:29A lot
04:29of the land
04:30has fallen
04:30and nothing
04:31has been
04:31toxic.
04:34thousands
04:35of
04:36thousands
04:36have lost
04:37their principal
04:38income.
04:39The
04:39water
04:40is
04:40rare.
04:41And
04:42the
04:42most
04:43respiratory
04:45and
04:46anemia.
04:48The
04:49lake
04:49has fallen
04:50in the
04:50sea.
04:52The
04:53forest
04:53has fallen
04:54very
04:56quickly.
04:58In
04:58a few
04:59decades,
05:00we have almost
05:00to have
05:00to have
05:00to have
05:01the
05:02economy
05:05and the
05:06health
05:07of a vast
05:07region.
05:08we try
05:10to save
05:10what is
05:10left.
05:12There are
05:12big
05:13economic projects,
05:14and even
05:16plans
05:17liés
05:17to
05:18the
05:18tech.
05:21We want to
05:23create
05:23data
05:23and
05:24Centria.
05:27But
05:28hard
05:28to imagine.
05:30The
05:30region
05:31lacks
05:31water
05:32and
05:32even
05:33some
05:34projects
05:36seem
05:37much
05:37more
05:38realist.
05:39A
05:40program
05:40helps
05:41farmers
05:41to
05:42cultivate
05:42a
05:42less
05:43gourmet
05:43in
05:43water.
05:45It's
05:48interesting,
05:52it's not
05:53the same
05:54face
05:54everywhere.
05:56Most
05:57reports
05:58are
05:58just
05:59near
06:00near
06:00the
06:00or
06:01a
06:01sea
06:01wet
06:01it.
06:04to
06:04a
06:04sea
06:06more
06:07south
06:09do
06:10more
06:19than
06:20reached
06:22sea
06:23near
06:23sea
06:25sea
06:25The satellite shows less of the abandoned champs.
06:28But it doesn't mean that these regions are at the end.
06:31Poussière, lack of water, and ecologists touch the whole area.
06:37The strong tempest hit the Karakal Paxton, the Korezme and Dachogouz in the same time.
06:44They are brief and the fight is not finished.
06:47The mer d'Aral du Nord, in Kazakhstan,
06:50the part revenu grâce au barrage de Kokaral subit de nouveau une forte pression.
06:57L'eau qui arrive par le Cirdaria
07:00pourrait devenir trop faible pour compenser l'intense évaporation estivale.
07:05Le niveau de l'eau pourrait chuter fortement durant l'été 2026.
07:09Si ça arrive, l'eau sera plus salée
07:13et les populations de poissons seront encore frappées.
07:17Hélas, le drame de l'Aral n'est pas unique.
07:21Beaucoup d'autres lacs et réservoirs dans le monde
07:23souffrent de surexploitation et d'une mauvaise gestion de l'eau.
07:28Prenez le lac Tchad, en Afrique.
07:31Dans les années 60, c'était l'un des plus grands lacs du continent.
07:35Aujourd'hui, 90% ont disparu.
07:39Voilà l'effet d'années de sécheresse, de chaleur
07:42et d'eau pompée pour les cultures sur ce lac.
07:47Pire, quand l'eau a disparu, des millions ont perdu leur travail de pêche.
07:52Leur terre et l'eau potable.
07:55Cela a causé faim et maladie.
07:57Beaucoup de gens ont dû partir.
08:01Maintenant, regardons les États-Unis.
08:03Le lac Mead, ce grand réservoir derrière le barrage Hoover, près du Nevada et de l'Arizona, baisse depuis des
08:10années.
08:11À cause d'une très longue sécheresse et d'une énorme pression sur le fleuve Colorado.
08:18Parfois, l'eau était si basse qu'on craignait de perdre l'électricité du barrage.
08:23Et même à se demander si les grandes villes auraient encore assez d'eau.
08:28À la différence d'ailleurs, une partie du sud-ouest américain a réagi vite, comme Las Vegas.
08:34La ville a grandi vite, mais depuis 2000, l'eau par habitant a presque été divisée par deux.
08:42Son bref, une grande raison, les gens ont remplacé les grandes pelouses par des plantes du désert, bien moins gourmande
08:50en eau.
08:51La ville a aussi creusé des prises d'eau profondes.
08:55Ainsi, elle pompait encore dans le lac Mead, même à un niveau très bas.
09:02Il y a aussi la Salton Sea.
09:05Son histoire rappelle trop la mer d'Aral.
09:10La Salton Sea est un immense lac intérieur du site de la Californie.
09:15Des décennies durant, l'eau des fermes la nourrit.
09:18Plus le niveau a baissé, et de grands pans du fond ont séché.
09:23Exposant 1, sol toxique.
09:26Le vent pousse vers les villes.
09:28Une poussière pleine de métaux lourds et de produits chimiques, causant des maladies cardio-pulmonaires.
09:34Dans des villes, les gens respirent littéralement la poussière toxique du fond asséché du lac.
09:40La Californie a déjà lancé de grands projets de nettoyage et antipoussières,
09:45dont des zones humides et des sols stabilisés.
09:49Mais beaucoup d'experts disent qu'il est peut-être déjà trop tard.
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