Aral Sea
1964, 1973, 1987, 1997, 1999
These images show the Aral Sea, which is divided between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
For more than 30 years, water has been diverted from the Amu-Darya and the Syr-Darya Rivers
feeding the Aral, to irrigate millions of acres of land for cotton and rice production in Central
Asia. This has caused a loss of more than 60% of the lake's water. The lake has shrunk from over
65,000 sq km to less than half that size, exposing large areas of the lake bed.
From 1973 to 1987 the Aral dropped from fourth to sixth among the world's largest lakes.
1973
1987
1997
2003
Sources: NASA Visible earth
Aral map 1973
Aral 1987
Aral 1997
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/html/image_1133.html
I’m not sure of the date of this one, but I think it’s 2003
There’s another interesting image in which the large lobe is green (I suppose from algae) at
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/html/image_1525.html
The lake's salt concentration increased from 10% to more than 23%, contributing to the
devastation of a once thriving fishery. The local climate has reportedly shifted, with hotter, drier
summers and colder, longer winters.
As the water retreated, salty soil remained on the exposed lake bed. Dust storms have blown up
to 75,000 tons of this exposed soil annually, dispersing its salt particles and pesticide residues.
This air pollution has caused widespread nutritional and respiratory ailments, and crop yields
have been diminished by the added salinity, even in some of the same fields irrigated with the
diverted water.
References
Perera, Judith, 1993, A sea turns to dust: New Scientist, New Scientist Publications, London,
England, vol. 140, no. 1896, October 23, p. 24-27.
Micklin, Philip, P., 1992, The Aral Crisis: Introduction to the Special Issue, Post-Soviet
Geography, V. H. Winston and Son, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, vol. 33, no. 5, May, p. 269282.
Rich, Vera, 1991, A new life for the sea that died?: New Scientist, New Scientist Publications,
London, England, vol. 130, no. 1763, April 13, p. 15.
Ellis, William S., and Turnley, David, C., 1990, A Soviet Sea Lies Dying: National Geographic
Magazine, vol. 177, no. 2, February, p. 73_93.
New Scientist, 1989, Soviet cotton threatens a region's sea--and its children: New Scientist
Publications, London, England, vol. 124, no. 1691, November 18, p. 22.
Perera, Judith, 1988, Where glasnost meets the greens: New Scientist, New Scientist
Publications, London, England, vol. 120, no. 1633, October 8, p. 25-26.
United Nations Environment Programme, 1992, World Atlas of Desertification: Edward Arnold,
London, 69 pp.
Satellite images
DS09066A014MC020 (Argon photograph, 21 August 1964) For information on these data, see
"Products Available from the USGS EROS Data Center", at
edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/dsprod/prod.html.
LM1173028007314990 and LM1173029007314990 (Landsat 1 MSS mosaic, 29 May 1973)
1987 mosaic (MSS, 10 August - 22 September 1987)
AL14071197100038 (NOAA 14 AVHRR, 11 July 1997) For information on these data, see
"Products Available from the USGS EROS Data Center", at
edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/dsprod/prod.html.
L7116102819991116 (Landsat 7 ETM+, 16 November 1999)
Special Projects Image
A comparison image of 29 May 1973 and 19 August 1987 is available as Special Projects Image
E-1852-810CT from EDC Customer Services.
Map
Defense Mapping Agency, 1973 [compiled 1973, aeronautical and CHUM information revised
1988], Jet Navigation Chart 23: scale 1:2,000,000. (Note: all Aral scales are approximated by
this map's scale at 45 degrees north.)
This article was first released 14 February 1997 and last revised 14 August 2000.
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/tableofcontentshttp://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/
slow/Help-GardenCity/Help-GardenCity http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/HelpGardenCity/e-mailtheeditor Bookmark www.usgs.gov/Earthshots for Earthshots, 8th ed., 12
January 2001, from the EROS Data Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, a bureau of the U.S.
Department of the Inter