The Aral Sea is a closed salt lake located in Central Asia, or more precisely - on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Since the 60s of the last century , the water level in the sea, as well as its size, has significantly decreased. Why is the Aral Sea drying up? There are several main reasons. Scientists suggest that a similar phenomenon occurs as a result of water intake for various needs through the supply rivers: the Syr Darya and Amu Darya.
Water is leaving
It is worth noting that the Aral Sea initially occupied the 4th place in the list of the largest lakes. However, gradually the pond began to decrease in size. It is believed that agriculture also influenced the state of the lake. Indeed, for irrigation of large sown areas requires a large amount of water. At the moment, the Aral Sea has retreated from its original borders by about 100 kilometers. This land has turned into a barren desert. Experts are still figuring out why the Aral Sea is drying up, whether it can be stopped. After all, such a phenomenon is an environmental disaster.
Agriculture and the Aral Sea
Why did the lake dry so fast? Many believe that the waters that enter the riverbed from the fields have become one of the main reasons. After all, it is not always clean. Periodically, pesticides and some pesticides used in agriculture are fed into the waters of rivers such as the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. As a result, specific deposits form in the water bodies, the length of which is about 54 thousand kilometers. It is worth noting that substances such as sodium sulfate, sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate are distributed along with air currents. These components slow down the development of crops and plants.
In addition, the rural population suffers from many chronic respiratory diseases, from cancer of the esophagus and larynx, as well as anemia and digestive upsets. Recently, cases of ocular ailments, as well as kidney and liver diseases, have become more frequent.
Water abstraction and environmental disaster
The Eastern Aral Sea is completely dry. One of the reasons is the irrigation canals that take water from the rivers. As a result, the lake becomes smaller. Even with a large catchment basin, the pond simply does not receive water. Moreover, the irrigation system has a length of several hundred kilometers. Water abstraction is carried out on the territory of several states at once. Naturally, this leads to the disappearance of some representatives of the plant and animal world.
Simple numbers
Today, there are many paper publications with catchy names, for example, “Why does the Aral Sea dry up?” A brief summary of such brochures attracts attention, but does not give a clear idea. To understand the main reason, you should dig deeper and plunge into real numbers. This is the only way to understand why the Aral Sea is drying up, is it possible to stop this process.
It should be noted that water was withdrawn for irrigation of cotton fields and for washing them from salting in the early 60s of the last century. This happened intensively, and the influx of moisture into the body of water was significantly reduced. But you can’t grow anything on a drained territory covered with a layer of salt.
The problem lies elsewhere. Water intake from rivers such as the Syr Darya and Amu Darya began to take place before it entered the delta. Indeed, the size of the irrigated area has grown from three to seven million hectares. In addition, irrigation systems are far from perfect: the norms are significantly overstated, and soil salinization is progressing. Fresh water requires much more than is presented in preliminary calculations. That is why the Aral Sea dries up, leaving behind a salty desert. In addition, due to the deterioration of the composition of the soil, cotton yield has significantly decreased. As a result, this led to an increase in sown area. The Aral Sea reaches no more than 110 cubic kilometers of water from the basins of both rivers.
Precipitation and the Aral Sea
It is not so simple to answer the question why the Aral Sea has dried up. The photo shows that the reservoir has decreased in size literally in recent years, and there are reasons for this. According to geographers of the University of Michigan and experts on the Aral Sea, the drying up of the reservoir occurred due to scarce rainfall. Over the years, the amount of snow and rainwater in the mountains has decreased significantly. This has led to a decrease in water levels in rivers.
River flows
It was proved that the borders of the Aral Sea fluctuated over many centuries. The eastern part of this reservoir was not dried up for the first time in our time. This lasted for 600 years. It all started with the fact that one of the branches of the Amu Darya began to direct its flows into the Caspian Sea. Naturally, this led to the fact that the Aral Sea began to receive less water. The pond gradually began to decrease in size.
Where it leads
Now many people know where the Aral Sea disappears. Why did the lake dry? What is it paying for? The pond is shrinking. Where sea ships once drifted, you can see a sandy plateau that divided the water area into several parts: the Small Sea - 21 km 3 , the Big Sea - 342 km 3 . However, the ecological disaster did not stop there. Its scope continues to grow.
According to experts, in the near future, the water level in the Great Sea will gradually decrease, which will lead to an increase in its salinity. In addition, certain species of marine animals and plants may disappear. In addition, the wind gradually spreads salt from the drained territories. And this leads to a deterioration in soil composition.
Is it possible to stop?
The reasons why the Aral Sea is drying up have long been identified. However, no one is in a hurry to correct the consequences. After all, this requires a lot of effort, as well as financial costs. If the discharge of sewage into the lake continues, it will simply turn into a sump, which will be unsuitable for agriculture. At the moment, all work should be aimed at restoring the natural boundaries of the reservoir.
Since the Aral Sea has not yet completely dried up, but only its eastern part, its rescue strategy should be aimed at stabilizing the ecological system. It is necessary to restore its ability to self-regulation. To begin with, you should re-profile the landing area for other crops, for example, for fruits or vegetables. They require less moisture. All forces in this case should be directed to the main reasons that caused the drainage of a large salt lake. This is the only way to save the blue pearl of Central Asia.