The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest in the world, is quickly shrinking, in part due to natural resource policies developed by the Kremlin. The water body was once fed by two mighty rivers, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya. These rivers were diverted, in order to irrigate the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. These reclaimed deserts were turned into farms, growing cotton and other crops. As the desert bloomed, the Aral Sea, once the final destination of the waterways, started to disappear.
The Terra satellite, launched into space in 1999, examined the sea with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Modis) camera on board the craft. These observations, which started in 2000, were compared to the known extent of the waterway in 1960. At the beginning of these observations, the northern section of the water body, traditionally known as the Small Aral Sea, had already separated from its southern counterpart. The Large Aral Sea had itself begun to divide into two smaller bodies, roughly eastern and western. Between 2009 and 2014, wet and dry years caused the size of the sea to fluctuate. In 2014, the eastern lobe of the southern sea completely dried up for the first time in modern history.
Conditions in the waterways became worse; the sea receded. As water disappeared, it left salt behind, increasing salinity in the remaining water. This change was accompanied by greater concentrations of pesticides and fertilizer. Dust from the former lake bed, exposed by the receding water, was carried by the wind, posing health risks for area residents. Crops had to be flushed with massive quantities of fresh water from the rivers, further compounding the problem. Airborne-salt also covered land used for crops, as well as wild plants, which form the basis of the local ecosystem.
"In a last-ditch effort to save some of the lake, Kazakhstan built a dam between the northern and southern parts of the Aral Sea. Completed in 2005, the dam was basically a death sentence for the southern Aral Sea, which was judged to be beyond saving," NASA officials wrote on the Earth Observatory website.
In the final image, just a thin strip of water remains in the western rim of the southern sea.
The shrinking of the Aral Sea also played a part in modifying seasonal changes throughout the region. Large bodies of water heat and cool slowly, moderating temperature differences throughout the year. Without that influence, summers have become hotter and drier, while winters in the area have become colder.
People and businesses who depended on the Aral Sea for their livelihood have also suffered as the waters have receded, leaving many people without a livelihood.
