The Aral Sea...

One of the supplemental readings for this class that really caught my attention was the 2001 BBC article about the devastation surrounding the once prosperous Aral Sea. The article mentioned how the Aral Sea, bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, once provided the people of this region with a profitable fishing industry, but has been steadily declining since the 1960's due to the addition of irrigation canals branching off of the river that served as the main water supply for the sea. Reading the article was absolutely heart-wrenching because it basically explained that because of the drastic changes occuring in terms of climate, many people have moved to different locations and those that have chosen to remain in the region have been suffering severely. Not only did the shrinking size of the sea essentially eliminate their fishing industry, but the people living in the area have been sickened by their environment as well in the form of poisoning from polluted air, high rates of anemia, etc.

I was curious about what advancements there had been in recent years, so I did a little more searching and came across an article from the New York Times in 2006 that discussed the plans for improvement of the Aral Sea. According to that article, there is a plan in motion that is already raising the sea level with the use of a dam that was finished in 2005. In addition, the Aral Sea repair plan includes future renovations on an existing dam that is in need of some work and a canal that would link the small and large portions of the sea. Eventually, millions of fish are expected to be let loose in not only the Aral Sea, but other lakes in the area as well, in an attempt to revitalize the floundering fishing industry.

While there is a long way to go for this region, the steps being taken so far seem to be a move in the right direction. Hopefully the plan proves to be successful, because the people in this area are in desperate need of some positive changes in the future.

Here's the link to the New York Times article if anyone is interested: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/world/asia/06aral.html?_r=1