Destruction of the Aral Sea Uzbekistan Created by: Michael Jolitz Geography 308 Russia and Eastern Europe Professor Zoltan Grossman University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.
Download ReportTranscript Destruction of the Aral Sea Uzbekistan Created by: Michael Jolitz Geography 308 Russia and Eastern Europe Professor Zoltan Grossman University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.
Destruction of the Aral Sea Uzbekistan Created by: Michael Jolitz Geography 308 Russia and Eastern Europe Professor Zoltan Grossman University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Location http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/swlwpn r/reports/y_nr/z_uz/uz_style/uzfla g.gif Water Syr Darya Amu Darya http://www.panos.org.uk/images/features/0303water.jpg The Amu Darya, in the west, and the Syr Darya, in the east Their 600 tributaries take source in the Tien Shan and the Alai highlands. They feed waterways on their way to the Aral Sea. The rivers fall short of feeding the Sea properly to sustain it. The desert has reclaimed a good portion of the Aral Sea and the rest struggles to survive. http://www.nimbus.it/liguria/rlm03/primo_piano/images/Amu%20Darya%20River.jpg Syr Darya Tributaries http://freenet.kg/gallery/irmela/Thumbs/Thumb_IMG0002.jpg Rivers http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/s/syrdarya.jpg Amu Darya The Amu Darya is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Pandj rivers, which rise in the Pamir Mts. of central Asia. Its length is 1,600 miles long Syr Darya The Syr Darya is formed by the confluence of the Naryn and Qoradaryo rivers in the eastern Ferghana Valley With a length of 1,374 miles -1,876 miles including the Naryn—the Syr Darya is the longest river in Central Asia 53 Meters above sea level Evaporation – 60 square Kilometers of water each year Environmental disaster Large Controversy Boron Pollution Phenol Pollution Water and Pollution http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/images/diagram/kaz/a_stat01.gif Once the 4th biggest inland sea in the world http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/uzbek/env2001/content/soe/english/maps/places3.gif Agriculture Simple Irrigation System Upstream irrigation for the growing of rice and cotton consumed more than 90% of the natural flow of water from the Tien Shan mountains. Sea Surface declined 27,000 square kilometers of former sea bottom became dry surface 60% of water volume was lost Major Uzbekistan Crop since Soviet era Intense Agriculture Pesticides Intense Irrigation Fertilizers Cotton Harvest, Uzbekistan Cotton http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t002/T002695A.jpg Use of chemical fertilizers in the Aral Sea basin, 1960-1985 1960-1985 (calculated for 100% of nutrients; kg/ha Republic Russia Uzbekistan Tajikistan Turkmenistan http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/images/diagram/taj/v_stat21.gif 1960 6.7 111.1 78.2 100.2 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 19.8 32.9 58.5 67.5 96 146.9 197.2 238.3 263.1 285.6 120.2 165 220.3 225.3 249 186.7 205.3 241.3 248 251 http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth/hope/uzbekistan.html Production http://www.aralfood.com/images/prod.jpg •thriving environment until the 1960's http://www.fas.usda.gov/cotton/circular/1997/97-08/cover/uzbek.gif •extensive irrigation schemes put in place •River water diverted from Tien Shan Mountains, •Would normally have flowed into the Aral sea •Huge amounts of this diverted water lay as stagnant pools across vast, badly managed cotton and rice fields. As a result the Aral has now lost more than 60% of its water. Rice •South of the Aral Sea •Rice Paddy Fields are shown by the square boxes •This fields have a very high water portion. – shown by Landsat Image •There are also artificial fishing ponds. •Usually filled in early spring helps to allow the fishing industry to survive. http://www.dfd.dlr.de/app/land/aralsee/landsat_mss.html Livelihood Once a busy shipping trade between its northern port of Aralsk and the river ports of the Amu-Darya, some as distant as Tajikistan Aralsk is now landlocked about 100 km from the water. It, like Muynak has fishing boats sitting high and dry on what was once the bottom of the Aral Sea. Abandoned Ships The Changing Aral Life “blood” Once abundant fish resources Once provided a livelihood for several hundred thousand people. People living around those canals and using those waterways now depends on their existence--the very existence that sucks the life "blood" of the Aral. Fishing Industry 20 species of fish Fish was based on three species of fishes: bream, sazan, Aral roach (vobla). A very valuable fish - Aral barbal and white-eye were caught in the Aral Sea. Located in coastal areas and rivers mouths. Annual catching was 300-400 thousand centners (220.46 lbs) of fish. Fish Catching in the Aral Sea (tons) Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Total 3680 2539 2163 1519 570 471 805 Flounder 50 116 55 8 0 190 370 Fish Bream Sazan Aral roach (vobla). Wastes Shrinking steadily, adding to the desertification of the lakebed Contamination of the region by exposing DDT, chemical pesticides, and natural salts. Hazardous materials that are strewn about by wind, not only contaminate the food chain, water, and air but cause countless human health disorders. A number of buried nuclear waste processing and chemical weapons sites that damage the soil. Salinity Salinity has increased from 10 grams/liter to 40-50 grams/liter from 1960 to near present. This is due to the lack of fresh water inflow Drinking water in the region contains four times more salt per litre than the limit recommended by the World Health Organization •This figure shows areas where the environment in Uzbekistan and the surrounding areas have been severely degradated. •The impact of losing water has caused severe salinization http://www.dfd.dlr.de/app/land/aralsee/salin.html The white large object on the left border of the image is an artificial salt pan. Discharge water, which is highly contaminated by salt accumulation, is diverted into such pans in order to decrease soil salinity. From these pans the water evaporates totally unused and creates salt crusts and olonchaks. Salt Pans Salt Pan http://www.goacom.com/goatoday/2003/oct/img/TarSaltpan2.jpg http://www.dfd.dlr.de/app/land/aralsee/landsat_tm.html Typhoid, Paratyphoid Hepatitis contaminated drinking water Intestinal disease Cancers Anemia Dystrophy Cholera Dysentery TB, Throat cancer Tuberculosis Many children are born with defects. http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_01/photos/13.jpg The Aral Sea region has one of the world’s highest rates of malformed or handicapped children http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/dc/briefs/images/vos/vos6b.jpg cns.miis.edu/pubs/ dc/briefs/vozipres.htm Health Climate Effects Drier shorter summer Longer Colder Winters Growing Season now 170 Days Pasture Productivity declined by Half Higher Evaporation Rates Dust Storms http://oemagazine.com More than 50 days of storms a year 20-25 meters per second www.nws.noaa.gov/ om/brochures/duststrm.htm Dust Aral Sea is located along a powerful air stream running from west to east. It contributes to aerosol transference into upper layers and fast spread in the atmosphere of the Earth. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/ISS002-ESC-9147.jpg Dust Storm From Aral Region Effects of Dust Storms Reduces visibility to less than a quarter mile. Respiratory ailments, Asthma Erosion, Desertification, Crop Damage The erosion loosens up contaminated toxic soils. Erosion Dust Traces of pesticides from the Aral region were found in the blood of penguins in the Antarctic Aral dust has been found on Greenland's glaciers Norway's forests Belarus' fields All situated thousands of kilometers away from Central Asia. Anthrax •Vozrozhdeniya Island - New York Times Article •“Renaissance Island” •Anthrax Storage Facility •During Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika campaign Vozrozhdeniya Island The island was once 77 square miles In 1999 770 Square miles Fear of Terrorism Yeltsin vowed in 1992 to clean up Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have both independently asked for US help. Radioactive Waste MAYLUU-SUU, Kyrgyzstan Outside the rusting, closed Izolit uranium-processing plant, 23 radioactive waste sites exist in the landslideprone hills Could spill poison into the river below and on to the most populous region of Central Asia. About 70 million cubic feet of tailings left from refining uranium ore during the Soviet era are buried in this mountain valley along the Mayluu-Suu River. Fergana Valley, the region's agricultural heartland with 12 million inhabitants. Radioactive Waste In Kazakhstan, huge mining and metallurgy complexes were built They have never been modernized Intense local air pollution. In the west of Kyrgyzstan, radioactive waste from uranium plants is stocked without protection and risks polluting the rivers in neighboring Uzbekistan. These Eventually may reach the Aral Sea. Kazakhstan Coal Mound on Roadside Kazakhstan Factory Radioactive Waste Concentration of Radioactive Waste Storage in the Ferghana Valley Biological Waste Facility Shown in Aral Sea Neutralization of the Problem 1980’s cultivation of new large irrigated areas banned Large scale water resource projects introduced 1993 – Crosspiece Divided Aral Sea and water from the Syrdarya was diverted back into one part. Vegetation started to recover and salinity decreased. It was destroyed in 1999 A footnote about the Aral Sea Disaster: The locals around the Aral sea joke that if everyone who'd come to study this disaster had brought a bucket of water, the sea would be full again by now. Bibliography Aral Sea - http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm#8 http://www.dfd.dlr.de/app/land/aralsee/salin.html Earth Observatory Nasa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=4819 New York Times - http://www.phaster.com/unpretentious/uzbekistan_anthrax.html Washington Times - http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040305-100450-8640r.htm The Water Page - http://www.thewaterpage.com/aral.htm Veggie Global - http://www.veggieglobal.com/ggl/united-oceans.htm http://www.britannica.com