Transcript The Aral Sea

The Aral Sea
Justine Robinson
Rebecca Walker
Ashley Terrill
Where is it?
 The Aral Sea, located in Uzbekistan and
Kazakstan (both countries were part of
the former Soviet Union), is historically a
saline lake.
1989 vs. 2003
The Aral Sea…
 Once the world's fourth-largest inland sea with
an area of 68,000 km², the Aral Sea has been
steadily shrinking since the 1960s, after the
rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya that fed it
were diverted by Soviet Union irrigation
projects.
 By 2004, the sea had shrunk to 25% of its
original surface area, and a nearly fivefold
increase in salinity had killed most of its natural
flora and fauna.
The Aral Sea…
 The Aral is an inland salt-water sea with
no outlet. It is fed by two rivers, the Amu
Darya and Syr Darya.
 The fresh water from these two rivers
held the Aral's water and salt levels in
perfect balance.
What happened?
 In the early 1960's, the Soviet central
government decided to make the Soviet
Union self-sufficient in cotton and
increase rice production.
 Government officials ordered the
additional amount of needed water to be
taken from the two rivers that feed the
Aral Sea.
What happened?
 Large dams were built across both rivers,
and an 850-mile central canal with a farreaching system of "feeder" canals was
created.
 When the irrigation system was
completed, millions of acres along both
sides of the main canal were flooded.
What happened?
 Over the next 30 years, the Aral Sea
experienced a severe drop in water level,
its shoreline receded, and its salt content
increased.
1960 to 2008 Visual
http://www.orexca.com/aral_sea.shtml
Works Cited
 Aral Sea. 4 Nov. 2008
<http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/
arsea/arsea.htm>.
 The Aral Sea. 4 Nov. 2008
<http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralse
a/>.