Administrator Lite Posted April 5, 2010 Administrator Share Posted April 5, 2010 It was once the world's fourth-largest lake, but Central Asia's Aral Sea has shrunk by 90 per cent in the past 50 years what has been described as one of the planet's 'most shocking environmental disasters.'The sea, which borders Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and was once 26,000 square miles, has dried up significantly since the 1960s when the rivers that fed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region.By 1997 it had shrunk to 10 per cent of its original size and split into a large southern Uzbek part and a smaller Kazakh portion.The shrunken sea has ruined the once-robust fishing economy and left fishing trawlers stranded in sandy wastelands, leaning over as if they dropped from the air. The sea's evaporation has left layers of highly salted sand, which winds can carry as far away as Scandinavia and Japan, and which plague local people with health troubles.The construction of irrigation canals began in the 1940s, and by 1960 up to 60 cubic kilometres of water was being diverted to the land annually.The sea's level drops by an average of 31-35 inches each year.The Soviet Union's desire to develop huge cotton plantations is responsible for the dying sea.Cotton remains the main source of income for many newly independent republics. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Central Asian leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem after touring the sea by helicopter today as part of a visit to the five countries of former Soviet Central Asia. His trip included a touchdown in Muynak, Uzbekistan, a town once on the shore where a pier stretches eerily over gray desert and camels stand near the hulks of stranded ships.'On the pier, I wasn't seeing anything, I could see only a graveyard of ships,' Ban said after arriving in Nukus, the nearest sizable city and capital of the autonomous Karakalpak region.'It is clearly one of the worst disasters, environmental disasters of the world. I was so shocked,' he said. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espadastark Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 it is our fault. its people's fault! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atasas Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, some radical and big ideas does pay, some dont, some are still to pay back nasty... -_- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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