Aral Sea: fourth largest lake in the world is almost dry
Located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea, which is actually a salt water lake â€" and was once the fourth largest in the world, is almost dry. A series of images released by NASA show that the Lake has almost disappeared since 2000.However, unlike what happens with other lakes, this is not a consequence of global warming, but a Soviet water diversion program implemented at the beginning of the 20th century and accelerated in the years 1960.The Lake was fed by the rivers Syr Darya and Amu Darya, before the Soviet regime the move at the beginning of the last century to irrigate the arid zones of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In the Decade of 1960, the diversion has intensified and, since then, the volume of water present in the Lake began to decrease.It appears that the reservoir is destined to disappear completely, which will lead to disastrous consequences for the communities that depend on it. With the decrease of water, the Lake became even too salty and polluted to support the lives of native marine animals.Scientists estimate that what remains now of the Lake matches only 10% of the original size. Dry weather since year aggravated the situation of the Aral Sea and caused complete drought, for the first time in history, Eastern lobe of the southern portion of the Lake.In an attempt to save what remains of the northern portion of the Lake, was built in 2005 a dike. Since then, the water level increased again in the North Sea. This portion of the Lake is fed by the waters of the river that comes from Darya Sur mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan..fancybox-wrap { position: absolute; top:0; left: 0; z-index: 8020; } .fancybox-skin { position: relative; /*margin-top:20px !important;*/ background: #222222; color: #74b32e; text-shadow: none; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; } .fancybox-opened { z-index: 8030; } .fancybox-opened .fancybox-skin { -webkit-box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); -moz-box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); } .fancybox-outer, .fancybox-inner { position: relative; } .fancybox-inner { overflow: hidden; } .fancybox-type-iframe .fancybox-inner { -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch; } .fancybox-close{ background: url('wp-content/themes/codistage/styles/fancybox/exit.png') no-repeat; width:25px; height:25px; float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-right:5px; } /*.ngg-gallery-image img{width:565px; height:393px;}*/
If You Enjoyed This, Take 5 Seconds To Share It
0 comments:
Post a Comment