Effects of Shrinking Aral Sea

Disclaimer: Material given in this presentation is directly taken from various websites / sources

Location and Size of Aral SeaAral Sea BasinDesiccation ProcessCauses of DesiccationEffects of Aral Sea DisasterEfforts / Planned Projects to Solve the ProblemMeasures to Save Aral Sea (Way Forward)

Scheme of Presentation

Aral Sea

Kyzlorda

Aktobe

Krakalpakstan

Lies between Kazakhstan (Aktobe and Kyzlorda provinces) in the North and Krakalpakstan, in the South

Aral Sea

Aral Sea translates into "Sea of Islands", referring to more than 1,500 islands that once dotted its waters, Syr and Amu Darya are its sources of water

Amu Darya

Syr Darya

Aral Sea

Aral Sea

In 1960 Aral Sea was one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 sq km, Average depth 16.1 M and Maximum depth 68 M

Aral Sea BasinBasis for life in Aral Sea Basin area always was

agriculture and livestock farmingDependence of region on water storage and land

resources exists from times immemorialEcosystem of the region is very vulnerable to manmade

impacts because of arid conditions Extensive method of economic activity and significant

population upsurge prompted occurrence of numerous regional environmental, social and economic problems, including global scale catastrophe as Aral Sea tragedy

Aral Sea is recognized by world community to be one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century

Causes of Aral Sea Desiccation

Causes of Aral Sea DesiccationFrom late 1950s to 1990 large-scale programmes on land

development were implemented in the Aral Sea BasinBy 1960 water diverted from rivers that feed the Aral Sea

irrigated 11 million acres, most of it former desert, producing enough cotton to make the Soviet Union a net exporter of “white gold”

Karakum Canal; 1400 km through desert (Turkmenistan)From 1974 to 1986 almost no water reached the Aral Sea

from Syr Darya While the sea had been receiving about 50 cubic km of

water per year in 1965, by the early 1980s this had fallen to zero

Causes of Aral Sea DesiccationFor more than 30 years, about 90% water from the Amu

Darya and the Syr Darya diverted to irrigate millions of acres of land for cotton and rice production

Now these rivers irrigate 20 million acres landExcessive irrigation substantially decreased inflow to

Aral, and the Aral’s shoreline began to recede rapidlyMismanagement / wastage of waterSeepage because of unlined water channelsEvaporation due to very high temperature

Aral Sea Desiccation Process

Aral Sea 1853

Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 sq km, the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet Union irrigation projects

By 2007, Aral Sea declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes – the North Aral Sea and the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea and one smaller lake between North and South Aral Sea

Aral Sea 1989

Vozrozdeniye Island

Aral Sea 2000

By 1990s, surface area of the Aral had shrunk by nearly half, and the volume was down by 75%

Aral Sea 2001

Aral Sea 2002

Water flow into the Aral Sea decreased and water-level lowered more than 21 m

Aral Sea 2003

Aral Sea 2004

Aral Sea 2005

Aral Sea 2006

Aral Sea 2007

Aral Sea 2008

Aral Sea 2009

By 2009, the south-eastern lake had disappeared and the south-western lake retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea

Aral Sea 2010

Contaminated Aral dust storms have been reported as far away as the Arctic, fertile Fergana Valley and Pakistan

Effects of Desiccation of the Aral Sea

Effects on LandEffects on HealthEffects on Fishing IndustryHydrological EffectsEffects on ClimateEffects on Ecology

Effects of Aral Sea Desiccation

Effects on LandOver-irrigation and use of chemical fertilizers / pesticides

caused toxic salt buildup in many agricultural areasAs the water retreated, salty sea bed soil was exposedMore than 4 million hectares of lands turned into desertDeltas of Amu Darya and Syr Darya are worst hit regionsAridity of climate, natural supplies of salts in deposits of

alluvial plains, land erosion, salt-dust transfer from drying bottom of the Aral Sea accentuated the problem

Loss of vegetation

Effects on LandContamination of water and soil with industrial and

household wastes, pesticides etc Major part of the region has changed as a consequence

of manmade activity (deforestation, water deficit, irrigation, steppes ploughing)

Decrease of number of flora and fauna speciesCollapse of Tugai Forests in Aral near-shore zonesDust storms have blown up to 75,000 tons of exposed

soil annually, dispersing its salt particles and pesticide residues

Effects on Population Health Population health was changed for the worse because of

environmental problems including water contamination

and air pollution, lack of potable water, poor sanitation

More than 5 million people living in Amu Darya and Syr

Darya deltas affected directly

Airborne salt and dust is linked to a rising incidence of

respiratory illnesses and may be a cause of throat and

esophageal cancer

Cancers have increased by 30 times; arthritis by 60 times; chronic bronchitis by 30 times

Effects on Population Health Poor quality drinking water, frequently obtained from

rivers and irrigation canals, has a high salt content and

contains pesticides, defoliants, and fertilizers

Drinking water contaminated with viral and bacterial

pathogens is responsible for high rates of typhoid,

paratyphoid, viral hepatitis, and dysentery

Maternal and infant mortality rate in epicentre of the

disaster zone is one of the highest in CARs

Decrease of life expectancy, high rate of tuberculosis,

anemia, cancer, asthma, dysfunction of thyroid gland etc

Vozrozhdeniye Island In 1952, the former Soviet Defence Force started to

conduct experiments with biological agents and aerosols for a range of military purposes

Due to its remoteness, Vozrozhdeniye Island in the Aral Sea was selected for open-air testing.

World's largest biological-warfare testing ground Experiments conducted on horses, donkeys, sheep,

monkeys and on laboratory animals, such as white mice, guinea pigs and hamsters

Vozrozhdeniye Island

Vozrozhdeniye Island

Lab Complex Vozrozhdeniye Island

Vozrozhdeniye IslandSparsely populated deserts and semi-deserts

surrounding the Aral Sea, the island’s climatic

conditions and the isolation from the neighbouring

mainland reduced propagation and transmission risks

Agents tested at the Island included anthrax, tularemia,

brucellosis, plague, typhus, Q fever, smallpox,

botulinum toxin

Vozrozhdeniye Island In 1992, the Russian Government declared the closure of

facilityStructures were dismantled, and the island was

decontaminated and transferred to Kazakh control In August 1995, specialists of the US Department of

Defense confirmed this after site visitsBecause of the tests, environmental specialists have for

many years been concerned about the contamination of the island by pathogenic micro-organisms, some of them resistant to standard antibiotics

Anthrax spores can survive in soil for decades, creating a lasting source of contamination

Vozrozhdeniye IslandDesiccation of Aral Sea resulted in the increase of

Vozrozhdeniye Island’s surface Its initial surface of 200 km sq expanded to 2000 km sq

in 1990Vozrozhdeniye Island connected to the mainland which

undermine safety aspectsContamination poses continuous and increasing threat

to the environment and the health of the population around the Aral Sea

Vozrozhdeniye Island In 2001, the Kazakh government announced with great

fanfare that the Aral Sea region contains major oil deposits

Effects on Fishing Industry Increasing salinity became intolerable for various kinds of

fish beginning in the 1970s, and some species unique to the Aral Sea are now extinct

As the Aral shrank, its salinity increased, and by 1977 the formerly large fish catch had declined by over 75%

By the early 1980s, commercially useful fish had been eliminated, shutting down an industry that had employed 60,000

Region's once prosperous fishing industry has been virtually destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic hardship

Ships lie abandoned on salt-encrusted sea beds, and fishing villages are now up to 50 km from water

Abandoned Aral Fish Harbour

Abandoned Ships / Fishing Trawlers

Abandoned Ships / Fishing Trawlers

Effects on ClimateLocal climate has shifted

Aral Sea used to absorb heat during summers, maintain humidity in the region and during winters large water body helped maintaining temperature to a reasonable level

Desert land has spread; wetlands have dried up; and sandstorms, stirring up pesticide-laden dust, are more common

Summers are hotter and dryer and winters colder

Hydrological EffectsAral Lake's salt concentration increased from 10% to

more than 23%Ground-water level dropped resulting into drying wells

and springs and degrading natural plant communities, pastures, and hayfields

Deterioration of EcosystemDiminished flow of the Syr Dar'ya and Amu Dar'ya has

had devastating effects on rivers' deltas Prior to 1960, these oases surrounded by desert not only

possessed great ecological value because of the richness of their flora and fauna but provided a natural feed base for livestock, spawning grounds for commercial fish, reeds harvested for industry, and opportunities for commercial hunting and trapping

Between 1960 and 1974, the area of natural lakes in the Syr Dar'ya Delta decreased

11 of the 25 largest lakes disappeared and 4 of the remainder significantly receded

Effects on Natural HabitatLivestock raising suffered considerable damage

because of a decline in yields and a reduction of suitable areas

Between 1960 and 1980 the area of hayfields and pastures decreased by 81% and yields fell by more than 50%

At one time 173 animal species lived around the Aral, mainly in the deltas; 38 have survived

Commercial hunting and trapping have largely disappeared

Harvest of muskrat skins in the Amu Dar'ya Delta has fallen to 2,500 per year from 650,000 in 1960

Projects to Save Aral Sea

Soviet planners prepared a plan to transfer waters from

Siberia's Ob-Irtysh and the Volga Rivers

Canals would drain water from each of these rivers and

move it south to the Aral Sea

Ob River pours 385 cubic km of water into the Arctic

Ocean, the Volga River pours 240 cubic km of water per

year into the Caspian Sea

This is about 10% above normal and has gone on for

years

Projects to Save Aral Sea

Plan to Transfer Water from Ob-Irtyshand Volga Rivers

Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost put an end to this scheme, as the Soviet populace became aware of ecological disasters, and began to have the freedom to petition and protestIn 1988, the Soviet Central Committee decreed that cotton growing was to be reduced, so that the Aral Sea could receive water in gradually increasing amounts of water

There was some reduction in water diversion as a resultDissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 ended

central authority and Aral Crisis was in the hands of the five Central Asian nations

Projects to Save Aral Sea

Projects to Save Aral SeaThey signed an agreement in 1992 pledging efforts

toward Aral rehabilitation, but little action has been takenEfforts to address the crisis have focused on preventing

further shrinkage of the Aral Sea International Fund to Save Aral SeaNumerous Studies

Another meeting, in January 1994, resulted in offers to reduce water consumption, and promises of money for an Aral Fund

Projects to Save Aral SeaFull restoration of entire Aral Sea would require a large

scale regional changes, such as a shift away from

agriculture and huge amount of funds which under the

prevalent environment may be a difficult proposition

An effort to save and replenish the North Aral Sea was

made by Kazakhstan

As part of this effort, a dam project was completed in

2005; and by 2008, the water level in this lake had risen

by 24 m from its lowest level in 2007

Measures to Save Aral Sea

Measures to Save Aral SeaDamage is so severe that it is practically irreversible

Sea can be stabilized with improvements in the efficiency

of irrigation, but would remain incapable of supporting

most fauna, and the current problems of pollution and

lost habitat is likely to go unaddressed

Substantial but feasible irrigation improvements, and

some reduction in cropland, would allow partial

restoration of the sea, though it would still be incapable

of supporting its former fisheries

Measures to Save Aral SeaUrbanization, combined with large revenues from oil and

gas projects, might facilitate shift from existing

irrigation practicesWasteful and inefficient Irrigation System developed

during the Soviet era needs to be modernizedGenetically engineered crops that need less water

Israeli engineers experimenting on an Uzbek cotton farm

claimed they had increased yield by 40% while reducing

water consumption by two thirds

Thank You

Amu Darya

Syr Darya

North Aral Sea