BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 7. TurkicWorld / Adkhamjon Janobiddinov /
The Aral Sea, once the 4th largest lake in the world, has lost over 90% of its area over the last few decades. As a result, the local economy was heavily damaged, lands became useless for agriculture, and the unique flora and fauna of the Aral region are facing extinction. While various projects were initiated by the countries in the region, and international organizations, the region remains one of the biggest environmental crises in the world and there is not much global awareness about it.
Located between Northern Uzbekistan and Southern Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea was once a huge lake with an area of over 68,000 square kilometers (over 26,000 square miles). Historically, the Aral Sea relied on the Amu Darya and Syrdarya, two rivers in Central Asia. However, during the Soviet era, due to mismanagement of water resources, water from those rivers did not reach the Aral Sea. As a result, the sea started to shrink and today the current area of the Aral Sea is just around 3500 square kilometers (1300 square miles), split into 4 lakes. Since the Aral Sea shrank, the problem is affecting every part of people’s lives in that area, damaging the Aral biodiversity, and causing climate migration.
As the Aral Sea started to shrink, it had devastating consequences on the region’s biodiversity. Consequently, the dried part of the Aral Sea turned into a salt desert, which is now called “Aralkum.” Aralkum now covers over 4 million hectares. The decline in freshwater inflow has also led to increased salinity levels, which caused an unsuitable environment for a lot of native plant and animal species. In the second half of the twentieth century, tigers and Bukhara deer went extinct. In the south part of the Aral region, 10 bird types are about to disappear, and more than 40 bird species are now labeled as "endangered." Additionally, 12 of 28 fish types are also expected to vanish.
The Aral Sea crisis has severely impacted the economies of the surrounding regions, which historically depended on fishing, agriculture, and animal husbandry. As the sea dried up and salinity levels increased, the once-prosperous fishing industry collapsed. Many fish species could not survive the harsh conditions, leading to the loss of livelihoods for thousands of fishermen. The decline in fish stocks forced many to abandon their homes in search of alternative employment, leading to depopulation in many areas.
Agriculture, another vital sector in the region, has also suffered. The combination of water scarcity, soil salinization, and increased desertification has rendered approximately 50,000 hectares of farmland unusable in recent years. Furthermore, one-third of grass lands disappeared, making it hard for local people to feed their domestic animals. During windstorms, the salt from Aralkum desert spreads around the region, and it damages the agricultural lands. Currently, food security is also a major problem in the Aral region as people are not able to do agriculture on their lands.
Dust storms in the Aral region also impact public health. The number of people with breathing problems increased and the number of anemia cases went up 20 times compared to statistics from 1960s. Apart from dust storms, lack of water resources and food security also caused other types of health problems in the region. Women and children are the most vulnerable populations in this environmental health crisis due to the highly polluted and salinated water used for drinking and the dried seabed. As a result, the number of low birthweight cases has increased in the region.
The impact of the Aral Sea crisis extends beyond the immediate region, affecting broader environmental and climatic patterns. The creation of the Aralkum desert has contributed to regional climate changes, making the area more continental. Winter temperatures have dropped by an average of two degrees Celsius, while summer temperatures have risen by two degrees. These changes have shortened the growing season, delayed crop maturation, and increased the frequency of extreme weather events, all of which have had a ripple effect on agricultural production across the Aral and nearby regions. Moreover, the dust storms originating from the Aral Sea basin reached as far as the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains, causing glaciers on those mountains to melt faster.
Recognizing the severity of the Aral Sea crisis, both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have taken various steps to reduce the negative impacts of the Aral issue, improve people’s lives and save biodiversity. For instance, Uzbekistan has been implementing saxaul planting projects to reduce dust storms in the region. Saxaul is a type of desert plant that often grows in Central Asian deserts, it differs from other plants with its long roots and ability to strengthen mobile sands and slow down desertification. Furthermore, several wells were dug to supply local people with water, and artificial lakes were created to water animals in the Aral region. Uzbekistan also developed the tourism potentials of the Aral region, now tourists from all over the world come to experience the unique Aral environment, watch the mysterious ship graveyard near the Aral Sea and enjoy the hospitality of Karakalpak people, who are a local minority living in this region.
Kazakhstan also took several steps towards restoring Aral’s ecological balance. For instance, Kazakhstan built Kok-Aral Dam with the support of the World Bank in 2005. The dam helped the country to partially revive the fishing industry in the northern basin of the Aral Sea. Kazakhstan also planted saxauls to prevent desertification and sandstorms.
Although Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan implemented different projects to reduce the negative impact of the Aral crisis, a lot more should be done to improve the people’s lives and prevent climate migration. By raising global awareness about the issue, it would be possible to find some innovative solutions for ecological challenges in the region and attract investors to develop the area, offering employment opportunities to local people and developing the local economy.
Overall, the Aral crisis is one of the largest environmental issues in the world, affecting millions of people in Central Asia. From accelerating the melting process in Tien Shan and Pamir glaciers to affecting public health in the Aral region, this is a very serious problem. While several projects were initiated with the support of international organizations like the World Bank and the UNDP, the region remains a neglected problem with lack of global awareness.
Citations
1. The Aral Sea Crisis. (n.d.). http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm
2. Wheeler, W. (2021). Environment and post-soviet transformation in kazakhstan's aral sea region: Sea changes. UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800080331
3. Salmukhanbetova, Z., Imanalinova, A. A., Dimeyeva, L. A., & Zverev, N. E. (2020). State of saxaul plantations in Kazakhstan’s section of the aral sea region. Central Asian Journal of Water Research, 7(1), 128-157. https://doi.org/10.29258/CAJWR/2020-R1.v7-1/128-157.eng
4. Anchita, Zhupankhan, A., Khaibullina, Z., Kabiyev, Y., Persson, K. M., & Tussupova, K. (2021). Health impact of drying aral sea: One health and socio-economical approach. Water (Basel), 13(22), 3196. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223196
