Why the Aral Sea dries up: causes

The Aral Sea is a no-drainage salt lake located in Central Asia, or to be more precise, on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Since the 60s of the last century, the sea level and its size have decreased significantly. Why does the Aral Sea dry up? There are several main reasons. Scientists suggest that a similar phenomenon occurs as a result of abstraction of water for various needs through feeding rivers: the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya.

The water leaves

It is worth noting that the Aral Sea initially occupied the 4th place in the list of the largest lakes. However, gradually the reservoir began to decrease in size. It is believed that the state of the lake was affected by agriculture. After all, watering large areas requires a large amount of water. At the moment, the Aral Sea has receded from its original borders by about 100 kilometers. This land area has turned into a barren desert. Experts are still figuring out why the Aral Sea is drying up, whether it can be stopped. After all, this phenomenon is an ecological catastrophe.

Agriculture and the Aral Sea

Why did the lake so quickly dry out? Many believe that the waters that enter the riverbed from the fields have become one of the main reasons. After all, it is not always clean. Periodically, in the waters of such rivers as the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, pesticides and some pesticides are used, which are used in agriculture. As a result, specific sediments form in reservoirs, the length of which is about 54 thousand kilometers. It is worth noting that substances such as sodium sulfate, sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate are distributed along with air currents. These components slow the development of agricultural and plant crops.

In addition, the rural population suffers from many chronic respiratory diseases, from cancer of the esophagus and larynx, as well as anemia and digestive disorders. In recent times, cases of eye ailments, as well as diseases of the kidneys and liver have become more frequent.

Water abstraction and ecological catastrophe

The Eastern Aral Sea has completely dried up. One of the reasons is irrigation canals, which take water from rivers. As a result, the lake becomes smaller. Even in spite of the large catchment basin, the reservoir simply does not receive water. At the same time, the irrigation system has a length of several hundred kilometers. The water intake is carried out on the territory of several states. Naturally, this leads to the disappearance of some representatives of flora and fauna.

Simple Numbers

Today there are a lot of paper editions with catchy names, for example, "Why does the Aral Sea dry up?" The brief content of such brochures attracts attention, but does not give a clear idea. To understand the main reason, it is worth digging deeper and plunging into real numbers. This is the only way to understand why the Aral Sea is drying up, whether this process can be stopped.

It is worth noting that the water intake for irrigation of fields with cotton and for washing them from salting began to be carried out in the early 60s of the last century. This happened intensively, and the inflow of moisture to the reservoir was significantly reduced. But you can not grow anything on a drained territory covered with a layer of salt.

The problem lies in another. The diversion of water from such rivers as the Syr Darya and the Amudarya began to take place before its arrival in the delta. After all, the size of the irrigation area has grown from three to seven million hectares. In addition, irrigation systems are far from perfect: the norms are considerably overestimated, and salinization of the soil progresses. Fresh water requires much more than is represented in the preliminary calculations. That's why the Aral Sea dries up, leaving behind a salt desert. In addition, because of the deterioration in soil composition, the yield of cotton has significantly decreased. As a result, this led to an increase in acreage. Up to the Aral Sea reaches no more than 110 cubic meters of water from the basins of both rivers.

Precipitation and the Aral Sea

It's not so simple to answer the question, why the Aral Sea dried up. The photo shows that the reservoir has decreased in size literally in recent years, and there are reasons for this. According to the geographers of the University of Michigan and experts on the Aral Sea, the drying up of the reservoir was due to poor precipitation. Over the years, the amount of snow and rainwater in the mountains has significantly decreased. This led to a decrease in the water level in the rivers.

River streams

It was proved that the boundaries of the Aral Sea fluctuated over many centuries. The eastern part of this reservoir first dried up not in our time. This lasted for 600 years. It all began with the fact that one of the branches of the Amu Darya began to direct its streams to the Caspian Sea. Naturally, this led to the fact that the Aral Sea began to receive less water. The reservoir gradually began to decrease in size.

Where it leads

Now many people know where the Aral Sea disappears. Why did the lake dry up? For what does it pay? The reservoir contracts. Where ships once drifted, you can see a sandy plateau that divided the water area into several parts: Small Sea - 21 km ³ , Large Sea - 342 km ³ . However, the ecological catastrophe did not stop there. Its scale continues to grow.

According to experts, in the near future the water level in the Great Sea will gradually decrease, which will lead to an increase in its salinity. In addition, certain species of marine animals and plants may disappear. In addition, the wind gradually spreads salt from drained areas. And this leads to a deterioration in the composition of soils.

Can I stop it?

The reasons why the Aral Sea dries up have long been identified. However, no one is in a hurry to correct the consequences. After all, this requires a lot of effort, as well as financial costs. If the sewage discharges into the lake continue, it will simply turn into a sump that will not be suitable for agriculture. At the moment, all work should be aimed at recreating the natural boundaries of the reservoir.

Since the Aral Sea has dried up not yet completely, but only its eastern part, the strategy of its salvation should be aimed at stabilizing the ecological system. It is necessary to restore its ability to self-regulation. To begin with, you should redesign the landing areas for other crops, for example, for fruit or vegetables. They require less moisture. All the forces in this case should be directed to the main causes that caused the drainage of a large salt lake. This is the only way to save the blue pearl of Central Asia.