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The Aral Sea was at one point the fourth largest salt lake in the world; existing between the countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. The basin and small separated lakes that we see today are the result of drastic shrinkage that took place in the late 20th into the early 21st centuries.

Photo Source: Brittanica.com

https://www.britannica.com/place/Aral-Sea

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The drainage basin is roughly 1,549,000 square km and spans multiple countries today. The sea was split into the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea by a strip of land that expanded in 1989. The South Aral Sea, also known as the Large Aral Sea, is divided into the Eastern and Western Large Aral Seas which have intermittent connection and stability. The sea is fed by the Amu Darya and Syr Daria rivers. The Small Aral Sea has stabilized due to the construction of a dam in 2005 that traps discharge from the Syr Daria. The precipitation rate as of recent years is roughly 4 inches per year, a small fraction of the traditional rate.

Photo Source:

Micklin PP (2007) The Aral Sea disaster. Annual review. Earth Plan Sci 35:47–72

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Many people fled the region as the Aral Sea dried up. The major loss of water and food resources that came from the sea was an economic disaster for those who lived on the receeding Aral shores, especially for fishermen. The dry desert basin that remains is barren due to the salinity of the soil. Winds kick up the dust and it is very toxic to those who remain in the area, causing higfher rates of cancer and respiraratory disearse for inbabitants. Khazakstan is responsible for building the dam that saved the Northern Aral Sea and reintroduced many fish species revitalizing the smaller portion of the lake. Uzbekistan conversely continues to dry the Southern Aral Sea for agricultural use, specifically cotton production. Aphganistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are also responsible for the health of the Aral Sea because there is no coordinated conservation effort to manage their use of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. About 65 million people from these countries used to rely on the Aral Sea. Today about 40 million people live in the basin.

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The Story of the Aral Sea’s Disappearance

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Agricultural use of the water from the two rivers that feed the Aral Sea is the main reason for its degradation. Farming cotton was and still is a very popular industry in the region. This requires a lot of water to irrigate crops, creating some of the world's largest cotton producers since the 1960s. Cotton, also referred to as white gold, has been a major financial venture for the countries that have access to the Aral Sea since industrialization. Uzbekistan is the 6th largest global producer of cotton.

Photo Source:

https://geographyeducation.org/2016/06/22/pros-and-cons-of-cotton-production-in-uzbekistan/

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This satellite time lapse critical to understanding the scale at which the Aral Sea shrank in a few short decades. The remaining split seas resemble only 10% of what existed before human interference with the Amu and Sir Daria rivers.

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As is shown in the graph, the Small and Large Aral Seas having increasingly different qualities starting around the late 20th to the early 21st centuries. The salinity in the Large Arals continues to drastically increase as the water level drastically decreases. Conversely in the Small Aral salinity and water level balance out after heading in the wrong direction, which directly correlates with conservation efforts.

Photo Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Changes-in-water-level-and-salinity-of-the-Aral-Sea-over-the-last-six-decades-based-on_fig4_329222649

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The Aral Sea contained more than 48,000 tons of fish at its peak in 1957. By the 1980s, 20 native species of fish were gone and many of those were extinct. Some species that once thrived there were Luciobarbus brachycephalus brachycephalus, Rutilus rutilus aralensis, Luciobarbus capito conocephalus, Alburnus chalcoides aralensis, and Aspius aspius iblioides. The roughly 40,000 fishermen who relied on this vast ecosystem went out of business. Since restoration efforts of the North Aral Sea have replenished the fish population, fishing is once again prosperous in Kazhakstan under a regulated limit to prevent overfishing. This is an essential food/economic resource that has retrurned due to the restoration of the North Aral Sea which unfortunately did not happen for the South Aral Sea which is still lacking marine life.

Phtoto Source: nationalgeographic.com

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/north-aral-sea-restoration-fish-kazakhstan

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As a transboundary watershed, the Aral Sea has been a major point of political controversy for decades. The Soviet Union's control of what is now Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is what caused the degradation and separation of the Aral Sea. The Soviet Union's drive to impose worldwide political and economic control was the reason for the intense redirection of water from the Darya rivers to irrigate crops en mass. In this way, the Cold War is responsible for what is considered the largest ecological catastrophe in the last century.

Photo Source: Brittanica.com

https://www.britannica.com/place/Aral-Sea

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Water politics play a huge part in the livelihood of the Aral Sea today, and we see this in the difference between how the governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan manage their land. The European Investment Bank prepared to invest $100 million in the restoration of the South Aral Sea, however, the Uzbek government has shown little interest in shifting focus from agriculture to restoration. Fisheries are nonexistent as well as access to clean water in many areas, and the Aral Sea is not the only natural resource of the land that the government has exploited to its people's detriment. Conversely, the Kazak government worked with the World Bank to save the North Aral Sea and invest in its people.

Photo Source: thediplomat.com

https://thediplomat.com/2023/02/is-the-aral-sea-a-lost-cause/

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The health impacts from the desertion of the South Aral Sea are extremely serious to this this day. The food and water insecurity in the basin is intense, but the dust and harmful chemicals in the air make the area even harder to survive in. This environment has been created by the drying of the sea but also from intense agricultural practices like using fertilizer and other chemicals. Rates of mortality, cancer, and respiratory disease are all high in the basin.

Photo Source:

https://www.unicef.org/uzbekistan/en/what-we-do

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When the Soviet Union altered the delicate balance of the water cycle in the Aral Sea region, the climate was changed forever. A cycle of lessening precipitation and evaporation has taken place due to the warming that came from human interference with water in a desert climate. Due to this, crops need even more water to survive and fight rising surface temperatures. The future surface air temperature across Central Asia is expected to rise anywhere from 3 °C to 7 °C by the end of the 21st century. Precipitation is also expected to decrease in all parts of the region. The vast, barren basin has increased the frequency of salt and sand storms. Climate change has also caused the atmospheric circulation to change, glaciers to melt, biochemical waste to spread, and so many more changes that cause it to diminish quicker.

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The Republic of Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic that occupies the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan that is inhabited by the Karakalpak ethnic group. After proclaiming their sovereignty in 1990 when the Soviet Union collapsed, the republic remained a part of Uzbekistan and still exist in a state of tension with the central Uzbek government. The Karakalpaks have suffered catastrophically from the death of the South Aral Sea. Their entire economy collapsed as food and water resources became almost nonexistent. The women and children in Karakalpakstan suffer higher maternal and infant mortality rates due to women in the rest of the country. Even before the Soviet Union collapsed, the Karakalpak people were victims of the Uzkek government's policy decisions.

Photo Source:

https://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/karakalpakstan/traditions.htm

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These peoples have felt the impact of this disaster more than anyone, and they now make up only one-third of their own republic's population. Calls for separation from Uzbekistan still persist in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, but the little amount of water that still remains is controlled by the central Uzbek authorities. This is why liberation seems unattainable, and roughly 5% to 10% of the working-age population has migrated to surrounding countries. Migrant workers coming in have also increased the spread of tuberculosis in the region. The Uzbek government benefits from the erasure of the Karakalpakstan Republic and is not financially incentivized to restore the South Aral Sea or invest in the Karakalpaks.

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The heavy pollution in the Aral Sea and basin comes from a few things but they are all a part of human activity. The pesticides and fertilizers used for large scale agricultural purposes pollute the rivers with runoff which then contaminates the sea. The mining industry also contributes in the area as drain water with heavy metals flow into the rivers through runoff. Locally grown foods and animals have been found to contain dioxin, hexachlorocyclohexane, and pesticides. Lifelong exposure to these pollutants is why we see such terrible public health in especially the most impoverished areas of the basin.

Photo Source: ibtimes.co

https://www.ibtimes.co.in/fourth-largest-lake-aral-sea-now-completely-dry-nasa-610277

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The Uzbek government profits from the prioritization of agriculture and degradation of the South Aral Sea while its people suffer. Economic sanctions have been effective in cracking down on the use of child labor in Uzbekistan, so they could be effective in getting the government to invest in restoring the sea. The reason for the government's lack of interest in diminishing agriculture is that it is extremely profitable, so if other countries imposed sanctions on Uzbekistan and refused to do business with them that might incentivize change.

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Since agriculture and fishing are so essential to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, it is important that they are still able to sustain themselves with their natural resources. By farming and fishing on a smaller scale with limits and parameters on the chemicals used, there would be much less pollution. Greedy governments are responsible for the situation, so the only way to counter that would be to end big oil and agriculture in the region. They are major contributors to climate changes, public health crises, and wealth inequality.

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The most effective and efficient solution for the Large Aral Sea would be for Uzbekistan to take further steps with the European Investment Bank's initiative for restoration. The EIB already has a two-tier program that was set into motion but has stagnated. It would be in the Uzbek government's long term interest to tackle this now rather than later when there is literally no water left.

Photo Source:

https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2019-226-eib-and-uzbekistan-take-first-steps-towards-a-eur-100-m-investment-program-for-the-recovery-of-the-aral-sea

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The erasure of the Aral Sea is one of the most disastrous human impacts on ecological resources in recent history. Millions of people, plants, and animals have been affected over decades by the agricultural boom of the Soviet Union. The regeneration of the North Aral Sea is a terminate to how conservation efforts can really make a difference, and there might still be hope for the South Aral Sea to do the same. The story of the Aral Sea shows us how intertwined economics, politics, and natural resources are intertwined. We depend on the protection of natural resources, it is very clear how quickly exploiting them gets us into trouble.

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Chen, Dene-Hern. “The North Aral Sea Teems with Fish Thanks to Restoration Projects.” Science, National Geographic, 3 May 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/north-aral-sea-restoration-fish-kazakhstan.

“Environmental Consequences.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/place/Aral-Sea/Environmental-consequences. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.

Gaybullaev, B., Chen, SC. & Gaybullaev, D. Changes in water volume of the Aral Sea after 1960. Appl Water Sci 2, 285–291 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-012-0048-z

Gordillo, Elena. “Is the Aral Sea a Lost Cause?” – The Diplomat, The Diplomat, 8 Feb. 2023, thediplomat.com/2023/02/is-the-aral-sea-a-lost-cause/.

Izhitskiy, A. S., et al. “Present State of the Aral Sea: Diverging Physical and Biological Characteristics of the Residual Basins.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 1 Apr. 2016, www.nature.com/articles/srep23906.

Micklin PP (2007) The Aral Sea disaster. Annual review. Earth Plan Sci 35:47–72

Vo, Steven. “Water Politics and the Human Geographies of the Aral Sea Crisis.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 18 Sept. 2020, gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/09/18/water-politics-and-the-human-geographies-of-the-aral-sea-crisis-2/.

Wang, Xuanxuan, et al. “The Impact of Climate Change and Human Activities on the Aral Sea Basin over the Past 50 Years.” Atmospheric Research, Elsevier, 9 July 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169809520310619.