Where is Aral Sea located?

Central Asia
Where is the Aral Sea located? The Aral Sea stands at the boundary between Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south. It was once a large saltwater lake of Central Asia and the world’s fourth largest body of inland water.

What country owns the Aral Sea?

Kazakhstan
Mimicking the shape of a splintered number eight, the North Aral Sea – the top half of the body of water – lies in Kazakhstan. The South Aral Sea, which consist of a strip of water in the west and a dried-out basin in the east, sits in Uzbekistan. In the 1990s, both bodies of water seemed headed for similar outcomes.

What happened in the Aral Sea?

The Aral Sea in the Soviet Union, formerly the world’s fourth largest lake in area, is disappearing. Between 1960 and 1987, its level dropped nearly 13 meters, and its area decreased by 40 percent. Recession has resulted from reduced inflow caused primarily by withdrawals of water for irrigation.

Why was the Aral Sea important?

What is different about the Aral Sea? Once upon a time, it was the fourth biggest lake to exist. In the early 1900s, it provided communities with a range of significant ecosystem resources. This included fishing stocks and conservation of the local water and soil fertility.

What sea did Russia drain?

the Aral Sea
Formerly the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of 68,000 km2 (26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects.

What animals live in the Aral Sea?

Table 1
SpeciesYearsStatus
1950
Aral barbel Barbus brachycephalus brachycephalus+C, R
Bream Abramis brama orientalis+C
White-eye bream Abramis sapa aralensis+C
Nov 27, 2018

Who is responsible for the Aral Sea disaster?

By establishing a program to promote agriculture and especially that of cotton, Soviet government led by Khrouchtchev in the 1950s deliberately deprived the Aral Sea of its two main sources of water income, which almost immediately led to less water arriving to the sea.

What is the meaning of Aral?

[ n ] a lake east of the Caspian Sea lying between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

What country is the Caspian Sea in?

What countries border the Caspian Sea? The Caspian Sea is bordered by five countries: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

Why did the Soviet destroy the Aral Sea?

In October 1990 Western scientists confirmed the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea in Soviet Central Asia, formerly the fourth largest inland sea in the world. The loss of sea water was the result of 60 years of intensive agriculture and pollution by the Soviet authorities.

What caused the death of Aral Sea?

By the 1950s, the Aral Sea was shrinking rapidly. A Soviet program to gain agricultural independence accelerated the water diversion, to the point that flow into the Sea declined eleven fold. Evaporation meant the remaining water had high salinity, effectively killing the once-thriving fishery.

What caused the Aral Sea to disappear?

In the early 21st century, the Soviet Union diverted the Aral sea’s primary fresh water sources, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, for irrigation of their cotton fields. As a result, the sea has shrunk to two bodies of water: The North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and the South Aral Sea in Uzbekistan.

How deep is the Aral Sea?

138′
Aral Sea/Max depth

Does the Aral Sea still exist?

More than 40 million metric tons of dried salt have been swept into agricultural lands.” Today, the Aral Sea does not exist. There are, instead, two distinct bodies of water: the North Aral Sea (also known as the “Small Sea,” in Kazakhstan) and the South Aral Sea (in Uzbekistan).

What dried up the Aral Sea?

The ecosystem of the Aral Sea was destroyed mainly as a result of the increased salinity as well as the testing of weapons and other fertilizer run offs. The salinity of the water in the Aral sea was around 376 g/l by 1990 compared to the 35 g/l salinity of ordinary seawater.

How many countries are affected by the changes in the Aral Sea?

Called “the most staggering disaster of the twentieth century” by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Aral Sea basin intersects all five Central Asian republics – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – which lie in a 690,000-square-kilometer landlocked zone.

Is Caspian Sea drying up?

According to a series of recent studies, the Caspian — the world’s largest inland body of water — is rapidly drying up as climate change sends temperatures in the region soaring.

What are the issues with the Aral Sea?

The change in water quality in the Aral Sea basin reduced the number of fish in the river and in the sea, and destroyed most of fauna (2,3). International experts confirm that most water sources in Karakalpakstan are polluted, and that the pollution is mainly caused by the agro-industry and mining industries.

How many people depended on the Aral Sea?

The Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth largest inland lake. Today, it’s the epitome of environmental malpractice. More than 60 million people in six nations—Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan—rely on the rivers leading to the Aral.

Which part of the Aral Sea is now in the most danger?

Toxic Dust

Although dust/salt storms affect the entire zone surrounding the Aral, most of the major storms occur with north and northeast winds, which most seriously impact the Ust-Urt Plateau to the sea’s west and the Amu Darya delta at the south end of the water body.

How big was the Aral Sea originally?

26,255 mi²
Aral Sea/Area