THE ARAL SEA: AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS GETTING INTO THE TOPIC

THE ARAL SEA: AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS GETTING INTO THE TOPIC

The pressure to make economic development and the short- sighted responses to this pressure are the cause of a great damage. It will make economic development impossible and the region unliveable. The recent history of the Aral Sea has proved this fact. In the 1950s the sea covered 66,000 square kilometres. It had an average depth of 16 meters. Its water was fresh. But by 1990 the Aral Sea became almost half and was divided into two separate lakes. Its water became just one third of its 1950s volume. The seaÚs salt content has increased by almost 300 percent. The basic cause of the damage to Aral Sea was the use of irrigation to expand agriculture.

The reduced flow of water into the Aral Sea has had disastrous environment and economic consequences for the sea and its basin fish has died. Cotton plantation has become impossible. Birds and mammals have halved. In addition, the salt carried by the storm has made the surrounding land infertile. Short-sighted agricultural practices have increased the levels of salts, pesticides, and other damaging chemicals in the environment. Because of the chemical contamination of drinking water, there has been an increase in human health problems. In 1990, a scientific conference decided that the Aral Sea region was an ecological disaster area in need of urgent action to prevent its complete destruction. The story of the Aral Sea is one example of the global problem of desertification through human activities. In addition, it has helped us to find out the cause of desertification and an alternative model for economic development.