365 Days of Climate Awareness 301 – The Death of the Aral Sea

The Aral Sea was a large inland lake east of the Caspian between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (both within the old Soviet Union). Before 1960 it was the fourth largest lake in the world, 68,000 sq km/26,300 sq mi. It has nearly disappeared, due to the inflowing water of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers being diverted for irrigation projects. Recent attempts to restore some of the rivers’ flow have had very limited success in filling the basin.

Those boats were once used for fishing.

In the 1960’s the Soviets conceived the plan to irrigate the desertd of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for cotton, melon, rice and cereals. These projects saw economic success: by 1988, Uzbekistan was the world’s largest exporter of cotton. However, the effects on the Aral Sea were immediate and proved catastrophic.

Map of the Aral Sea region (ca. 1980's--observe the split southern basin).

In the 60’s, the early phase of the project, between 20-60 cu km3/4.8-14.4 cu mi of water per year were diverted from the sea to the farms, and the lake level began declining by 20 cm/8 in per year. The prospect of the lake’s disappearance was of no concern to the Soviets, who mostly considered it expendable. In the 70’s water withdrawals increased, leading to annual lake level fall of 50-80 cm/20-31 in. Even after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan’s policy was to maintain and expand the canal system off of the Amu Darya, and yearly lake level fall increased to  80–90 cm/31–35 in.

Time lapse map, 1960-2009.

By 1998 the Aral Sea had lost 60% of its surface area and 80% of its volume. Five years later it split into four smaller lakes, which continued shrinking. The concentrated salinity and highly fertilized runoff, such as it was, from Uzbekistan made the remaining lake water toxic to most life, and most species disappeared. From that low point some attempts at restoration have been made, with irrigation canals being repaired and made more efficient, allowing for the diversion of less water to farms, and more running down the rivers’ original course. However, the success has been extremely limited, with the northern basins fed by the Syr Darya somewhat refilling, but the eastern basin of the old southern half of the Aral Sea only partly, and intermittently, filling.

Time lapse satellite photo, 1989-2014.

What effects the loss of the Aral Sea is likely to have on local climate—like how the loss of too much Brazilian rainforest is likely to permanently desertify that region—isn’t known. We do know that this is not the first time humans have shrugged at the destruction of an entire huge ecosystem, and it’s not likely to be the last.

Another ghost town. The old city of Munyak is a popular destination for disaster tourists, and is also hosts an annual electronic music festival.

Tomorrow: introduction to India.

Be brave, and be well.