According to NSP magazine, Aral sea was an endorheic lake lying between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up by 2014. It was formerly the forth largest lake in the world with an area of 68,000km squire. Soviets diverted rivers that feed the lake to irrigate 5 million acres of cotton farm. By 1997, it had declined to 10% of its original size, spilling into four lakes.
It has been called on of the planet's worst environmental disasters by UNEP. Kazakhstan is trying to restore the sea while South Aral sea that lies in Uzbekistan is completely shrieled up. Soviets built more than 20,000 miles of canal, 45 dams and more than 80 reservoirs. It made water levels to drop at alarming rate of 3 metres per year. It was busy fishing port with 41 species of fish but today, nothing but desert remains.
There is restoration work being done to reverse the damage. Concrete dams has cause sea level to rise swiftly and average salinity has drop. The project is being financed by World Bank, USAID, Asian Development Banks and other wealthy countries like Japan and South Korea. Kazakhstan completely stop irrigating farm using water from rivers that used to drain into this sea.
Do you think it would come to life is rivers are allowed to flow uninterrupted? Give your opinion on comments section.
Content created and supplied by: EnockKipkorirYator (via Opera News )
COMMENTS