The Aral Sea, which stretches from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, is the fourth largest lake in the world. But this lake has experienced drastic shrinkage, dry without water since the 1960s. Curious what happened? Let's see the explanation below.
The Lake Named the Sea
Despite using the term sea in its name, in fact the Aral Sea is a lake that has an area of 67,500 square kilometers. Located in the middle of the desert in Central Asia , the northern part of the lake is located in Kazakhstan while the southern part is in Uzbekistan.
This lake has experienced drastic shrinkage in the 40 years since the 1960s. In 2014 the Aral Sea was only 10 percent of its original size, splitting into separate bodies of water.
Causes of Water Depletion
Then what is the cause of this water depletion? The main sources of lake water are from rivers and rain. The main rivers, namely the Amu Darya river and the Syr Darya river, are located north and south of the Aral Sea.
At that time the lake was still in the territory of the Soviet Union, then the Soviet government diverted the flow of the two main rivers into the desert area around the Aral Sea. To irrigate irrigation systems, to revive cotton and wheat farming.
Bringing Negative Impact
Furthermore, the diversion of the main river flow had a negative impact, at the beginning of the first year of the irrigation project, the amount of water entering the lake began to decrease drastically. In addition, the project is also not running efficiently, 25-75 percent of river water is wasted. Because water is absorbed into the desert sand and the evaporation process during the journey to irrigate the land.
It doesn't stop there, the decrease in lake water causes the salt content called salinity in the water to increase. It was noted that in 2014 the salt content increased by more than 100 grams per liter, exceeding the average limit.
Present condition
In the past, the Aral Sea was a water rich in fish and a bustling port, now it is a dry desert. In the west, the shallow waters are expected to disappear over the next few years. Even more sad, it also becomes the grave of rusty ships.
Although so many local and foreign tourists are interested in visiting this lake location, there are many tourist trips to visit the Aral Sea. Usually they will capture the moment on a rusty ship or off road adventure around the desert.
This is the explanation of the Aral Sea in Central Asia, which is experiencing water shrinkage due to natural damage.
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