Drying of the Aral Sea: Introduction

The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest inland sea in the world but now has been reduced to a fraction of its former size. This is from the diverting of the Amu Darya and Syr Daryaare to be used to water cotton in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. While this has been a benefit to farmers in those countries, fishermen who use to live along the coast now find themselves in the middle of an arid plain. The sea is currently split into two separate parts, north and south and if the sea level continues to drop the southern part might split into a eastern and western part.

Drying of the Aral Sea: Graphic of Solution

Drying of the Aral Sea: Solutions

There is never a perfect solution. A combination of projects may need to be completed as joint efforts between nations to solve this problem. Unfortunately, as water becomes scarcer worldwide, these joint efforts would be a difficult endeavor.

In 2005 Kazahkstan built a dam between the northern and southern portions of the sea to preserve solely the northern portion. Without this connection the southern lobe will continue to evaporate and disappear. The northern portion seems to be gradually refilling. The only way to repair the entire sea would be to redivert both rivers back to the Aral Sea.

Cotton plants require vast amounts of water. However, it has become a staple in the otherwise stagnant Central Asian economies. The removal of cotton from this economy would be a catastrophic mistake. This region must be introduced to more desert-tolerant crops which turn an equal profit if the Aral Sea is to be repaired.

Another possible solution is to dig a canal from the Caspian Sea to the southern lobe of the Aral Sea. The water level in the northern portion is now higher than the southern portion. The southern portion would have large volumes of water added to it before the dam would be removed.

Drying of the Aral Sea: Graphic of Causes

The recession of water in the Aral Sea: 1989 is in blue and 2008 is the red

Drying of the Aral Sea: Causes

The Aral Sea’s water volume has decreased by 75% since 1960. The main cause is the lack of water flow reaching the Aral Sea. Beginning around 1960, the Soviet Union built irrigation systems to tap riverflow. These rivers, coming entirely from snowmelt north of the sea, have been unsustainably diverted for cotton production in Kazahkstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Without the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking.

Furthermore the agricultural pesticides and fertilizers have mixed with the dried salt on the desert floor. The salt and chemicals have been scattered by the wind and disemminated across the globe as far as Japan. This slew of hazardous chemicals has been causing health problems wherever it reaches. These salt flats have become an actual desert and rainfall patterns have changed in the surrounding area. Without the water to stabilize temperatures the surrounding area has also been experiencing lower and higher temperature extremes. Without the Aral Sea the surrounding area has been degrading.

Aral Sea Research

Background Information

• The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world at 26,000 square miles.
• In just fifty years, the lake has shrunk by a whopping ninety percent.
• The lake has also been split. There is a large portion in Uzbekistan and a small part in Kazakhstan.

Causes

• The Soviet Union wished to expand their cotton production.
• The rivers that fed the lake were diverted in a huge project.
• Without any rivers to replenish the lake, the water evaporated.
• Due to low rainfall and a hot, dry climate, the process has been surprisingly fast.

Effects

• The obvious environmental concern is the danger to the marine life.
• There is less water so less life can be supported.
• The economic concern is the damage done to the once flourishing fishing industry.
• The drying has “left fishing trawlers stranded in sandy wastelands.” (Dailymail)
• The drying has also left over salty sand, which can be carried by wind as far as Japan. This sand causes health problems to those it reaches.

Possible solution

• A joint effort is required for this problem to be solved.
• Arguments over scarce water harm chances of this joint effort occurring.
• The solution to the problem is a similar project to the one that caused it.
• The Volga and Ob Rivers must be redirected back to the lake.
• This will also result in destroying the advances in cotton growth, but in return for a better ecosystem, healthier people, and a restored fishing industry.

Works cited:

Heintz, J. (2010, June 4). Aral sea almost dried up: Un chief calls it "shocking disaster".

Retrieved from:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/04/aral-sea-almost-dried-up_n_524697.html

How the aral sea- once half the size of england- has dried up. (2010, April 5). Retrieved

from:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263516/How-Aral-Sea--half-size-England--

dried-up.html

Refill the aral sea. (2004, September 27). Retrieved from:

http://www.ecoworld.com/other/refill-the-aral-sea.html

Drying of the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea gets its name from its high salt content that allows no marine organisms to live in it. As for its purpose, it is only a tourist attraction as well as the main economic resource of the area. It is a landlocked body of water in the middle of a desert, and even though it is in the middle of a drought at the moment, it has never experienced a significant rainfall.

The northern part of the sea is gradually reseeding, and scientists predict this recession is at a rate of about 3-4 ft. per year. The sea’s only major water contributor, the Jordan River from the north, is being tapped to feed the irrigation systems of both Israel and Jordan, the countries on both sides. One environmental group declared that there is no clear management of water distribution and that everyone is just taking as much as they please without a though of consequences. This is causing less water to flow into the sea and thus shrinking it. At this rate, it is predicted that surrounding land will collapse as the groundwater is evaporated, destroying not only populated areas but vegetation and wildlife as well on land. But at the southern half, industrialization and creation of evaporation are causing millions of tons of salt to be deposited into the lake, actually raising the sea level and having the potential to flood the surrounding settlements. The northern and southern pools are at different elevations, so one does not simply pour into another in times of erosion. As for the weather in the area, the desert environment is slowly evaporating water and contributing to the problem as well.

One solution to stop the dwindling sea levels is to build a canal between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, which is a subdivision of the Red sea. This will not only refill the sea but provide power through the downhill flow of water as well. However, the gulf provides salt water while the Jordan provides fresh water, so scientists aren’t certain about the effects of added salt to this already salinized body of water. Additionally, the canal would have to be 200 kilometers long, which would be very expensive to construct. Additionally, any plan to save the sea would have to go through three government (Israel, Jordan, Palestine), which could take years to get off the ground. Another proposal is to dredge the seabed of the southern area and move the sediment to the northern half to kill two birds with one stone. However, this chipping away of the floor could release chemicals suspended in the sediment, harming both areas as pollutants spread outward. As of now, there is no program being put into effect to destabilize water levels.

Works Cited

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/11/3/230803.shtml

http://www.polarisinstitute.org/middle_east_dead_sea_is_being_gradually_sucked_dry

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43380378/ns/world_news-world_environment/t/dead-sea-shrinking-one-end-flooding-other/