The Aral Sea is situated in Central Asia, between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
It used to be the world’s fourth largest body of inland water. People went there for fishing. There were a lot of different species: sturgeon, carp, barbel, roach, and other fishes. There were a lot of boats and people could sell things from one country to another. But now the Aral has dried up because of the diversion of water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for purposes of agriculture — to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops.
Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea... Today, the sea is a tenth of its original size and has almost split in two — the North Aral Sea lies in Kazakhstan; the South Aral Sea sits in Uzbekistan.
Its salty water became polluted with fertilizer and pesticides. The climate has changed too — winters have become colder and summers hotter and drier. The local people suffer health problems — from throat cancers to anemia and kidney diseases.
There is hope that people will save the Aral Sea. In 2005 Kazakhstan built a large earthen dam to contain the waters of the Syr Darya river within a smaller basin. By 2016 a few fish species had returned to the North Aral Sea and now people go fishing again.
The Aral Sea
The Aral Sea is situated in Central Asia, between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
It used to be the world’s fourth largest body of inland water. People went there for fishing. There were a lot of different species: sturgeon, carp, barbel, roach, and other fishes. There were a lot of boats and people could sell things from one country to another. But now the Aral has dried up because of the diversion of water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for purposes of agriculture — to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops.
Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea... Today, the sea is a tenth of its original size and has almost split in two — the North Aral Sea lies in Kazakhstan; the South Aral Sea sits in Uzbekistan.
Its salty water became polluted with fertilizer and pesticides. The climate has changed too — winters have become colder and summers hotter and drier. The local people suffer health problems — from throat cancers to anemia and kidney diseases.
There is hope that people will save the Aral Sea. In 2005 Kazakhstan built a large earthen dam to contain the waters of the Syr Darya river within a smaller basin. By 2016 a few fish species had returned to the North Aral Sea and now people go fishing again.