ARAL SEA

If you do crossword puzzles or live in the former Soviet Union, you have probably heard of the Aral Sea. Everyone else, not so likely.  

Here is what you should know.  It is called a sea but it is really a lake.  Up until the 1960's, it was the fourth largest in the world.  It is located in both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.  It is fed by the Amu River which gains flow from smaller rivers and streams of the Caucasus Mountains.

Fifty years ago it's surface area was 26,300 square miles (larger than the whole state of West Virginia) and had a vibrant fishing industry. Now it is only 1/10th that size.  The Soviet Union has been diverting water that fed the lake to nearby deserts to grow crops - mostly cotton.  The lake is almost gone.

Some call this shrinking lake the planet's worst environmental disasters.  This is an environmental change that you can really see.  This is a problem that man has caused.  Fishermen or cotton farmers - who do we please?  There should be a way to satisfy both.

o.o