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Once Written Off for Dead, the Aral Sea Is Now Full of Life (nationalgeographic.com)
Years ago, the Aral Sea was the world's fourth-largest freshwater lake with an area of some 26,000 square miles. But in the 1950s, it became the victim of the Soviet Union's agricultural policies. Water from its two river sources -- the Amu Darya and Syr Darya -- was intentionally diverted for cotton cultivation. The Aral Sea began to disappear and nearly completely vanished. But things have changed for good. From a report: This rapid collapse over less than three decades -- which environmental scientists say is one of the planet's worst ecological disasters -- is marked today by the sea's reduced size. Its total area of water, straddling Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, is now a tenth of its original size. What's left has broken into two distinct bodies: the North and South Aral Seas. In Uzbekistan, the entire eastern basin of the South Aral Sea is completely desiccated, leaving merely a single strip of water in the west.
But Kazakhstan's North Aral Sea has seen a happier outcome, thanks to a nearly $86 million project financed in large part by the World Bank. Along with repairs to existing dikes around the basin to prevent spillage, an eight-mile dam was constructed just south of the Syr Darya River. Completed in the summer of 2005, this dam, named Kokaral, surpassed all expectations. It led to an 11-foot increase in water levels after just seven months -- a goal that scientists initially expected would take three years. This turnaround in the North Aral Sea's fate has meant that the fish stocks have returned to its waters, injecting new life into the local communities. Just as government policies had doomed the Aral Sea, careful planning and research helped revive at least part of it.
But Kazakhstan's North Aral Sea has seen a happier outcome, thanks to a nearly $86 million project financed in large part by the World Bank. Along with repairs to existing dikes around the basin to prevent spillage, an eight-mile dam was constructed just south of the Syr Darya River. Completed in the summer of 2005, this dam, named Kokaral, surpassed all expectations. It led to an 11-foot increase in water levels after just seven months -- a goal that scientists initially expected would take three years. This turnaround in the North Aral Sea's fate has meant that the fish stocks have returned to its waters, injecting new life into the local communities. Just as government policies had doomed the Aral Sea, careful planning and research helped revive at least part of it.
...sometimes.
It's the Aral sea, not the Oral sea. :-p
Ezekiel 23:20
Putin says hi!
“It is helping to save the Small Aral sea,” says FitzGerald. “But it was also a death warrant to the Big Aral, on the Uzbek side. People on the Uzbek side are very angry about it. The dam shut the only source of water that was entering their sea.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/resour...
it's in my head
The Aral sea hasn't dried and withered away completely yet.
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
Also save Owens Lake in California! (see http://mentalfloss.com/article...)
Found some tribalist partisan imbecile's lost pet parrot.
I don't trust atoms -- they make up stuff.
The World Bank lends money in exchange for letting your country's resources be exploited by capitalists. I don't know if "taking back control" is the most appropriate expression here. Also, the Uzbek seem pretty content with the water diversion operated by the Soviets. I don't know how free they are to express themselves, though. I smell there's some politics at play here.
The losses of the Aral sea have noting to do with "climate change".
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Who the fuck modded that crap informative?
The recovery - which is not that impressive - has nothing to do with the nations being allowed to control their own land. Once the USSR collapsed, the economy in both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan dwindled and so did the population - of Kazakhstan at least (Usbekistan had a little dirty civil war instead). That is the only reason for the recovery.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Exactly, what Nestlé is doing to water supply worldwide could only happen in dirty commie shitholes
Yes, the much more intelligent capitalists would never build huge cities with golf clubs, water shows and huge swimming pools in the frickin' desert, right?
Found Ivan.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
Except looking at the Wikipedia page shows that in 1989 right before comunisim collapsed the Aral Sea was mostly intact but by 2014 it had mostly dried up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
So while Soviet era policies are the problem it didn't actually dry up during the existence of the USSR. In addition the Wikipedia page says it has been shrinking since at *LEAST* 1850
Though further reading of the article reveals that the irrigation channels leak like the buggery wasting anywhere between 30% and 75% of the water being used for irrigation. So perhaps all that is needed is to bring the irrigation channels up to scratch and the irrigation can continue and the sea will refill at least partially.
Reading a bit further shrinkage in the 1990's was basically all down to the Uzbek leader. Fortunately that particular despot died 18 months ago, and things tentatively look to be improving.
Finally the Soviets expected the sea to disappear.
"careful planning and research"
This SHOULD be a lesson to everyone insisting that the government "do something". Reactionary legislation is usually bad legislation that takes years to undo. The other lesson people should learn is that those who insist that the government "do something right away" are lying their ass off.
Yeah, I was a little obscure in my description.
Was just responding to the AC who seemed to claim that the planet is 100% capable of repairing itself from any man made thing done to it before anything bad happens.
Didn't mean to imply that the sea went missing due to climate change.
It's turtles all the way down.
Ah, my fault perhaps. Probably I did not read correctly :D
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.