Aral Sea

A big sea is shrinking.

It was once very large. It had over 1,100 islands. People called it the Sea of Islands.

Rivers used to feed the sea. But people moved the water to farms. This made the sea get smaller.

Now much of it is a desert. Many fish have lost their homes. Some fish are gone forever.

People built a dam to help. The water is coming back in some spots.

It is good to see the water return.

The Aral Sea was once a massive salt lake.

It sat between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Its name means "Sea of Islands." This is because it had over 1,100 islands.

In the 1960s, the sea began to shrink. Rivers that fed the lake were moved. People used this water for irrigation. Irrigation is a way to bring water to farms. This caused the sea to lose its water. By 2007, it was only 10% of its original size. Much of it became the Aralkum Desert.

Many animals lost their homes. Most native fish died out as the water became too salty. The Syr Darya sturgeon may even be extinct.

People are trying to help. In 2005, they finished the Dike Kokaral dam. This dam helps save the North Aral Sea. Since then, the water level has risen. The salt levels went down. Now, fish are coming back to the area.

The Aral Sea was once a huge salt lake. It sat between Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south. Its name means "Sea of Islands." This is because it once had over 1,100 islands in its waters.

For a long time, it was the third-largest lake in the world. It was a very important place for many living things.

Something big changed in the 1960s. Rivers like the Syr Darya fed the lake. People diverted these rivers for irrigation projects. Irrigation is a way to move water to farmland. This meant less fresh water reached the sea. As the water left, the sea began to shrink.

By 2007, the sea was only 10% of its original size. It split into four smaller lakes. The eastern part dried up completely. This new dry area is called the Aralkum Desert.

Many animals lost their homes as the water changed. The sea became much saltier. Most native fish could not live in the salt. The Aral trout and several sturgeon species disappeared. The Syr Darya sturgeon might even be extinct now.

Only the Ukrainian stickleback survived the high salt levels. Many other creatures, like certain mussels, also vanished.

This loss of life is a very sad story for nature.

History shows the lake has changed many times. Long ago, the Amu Darya river flowed differently. Geographers believe the lake formed during the Holocene period. In 1848, Alexey Butakov led the first Russian expedition there. Later, a big fishing industry grew in the region. This industry helped many people find work. But when the water left, the jobs left too. This caused much economic hardship for the local people.

There is still hope for some parts of the sea. In 2005, workers finished the Dike Kokaral dam. This dam was built to save the North Aral Sea.

Since the dam was built, the water level has risen. The salt levels in the water have also dropped. Because of this, fish are starting to return.

This shows how people can work to help nature recover.

The Aral Sea was once an enormous endorheic salt lake. An endorheic lake is a body of water that does not flow into an ocean. This sea sat between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south. Its name roughly translates to "Sea of Islands." This name refers to the more than 1,100 islands that once dotted its waters.

For a long time, it was the third-largest lake in the world. Today, it is remembered as a site of major environmental change.

The shrinking of the sea began in the 1960s due to human activity. The sea was fed by major rivers, including the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya. Soviet irrigation projects diverted these rivers to water farmland. Specifically, water from the Syr Darya was used to irrigate about 4.5 million hectares of land in the Ferghana Valley.

Because less fresh water reached the sea, the water levels dropped. This process caused the sea to shrink and the salt levels to rise.

As the water disappeared, the sea split into several distinct parts. By 2007, the sea had declined to only 10% of its original size. It divided into the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea. The South Aral Sea further split into an eastern basin and a western basin. There was also a smaller body of water called Barsakelmes Lake.

By 2009, the southeastern lake had vanished entirely. In August 2014, NASA satellite images showed the eastern basin had completely dried up. This new dry area is now called the Aralkum Desert.

The changing water created a massive loss of biodiversity. Many native fish species could not survive the rising salinity, or saltiness. The Aral trout, ruffe, and Turkestan barbel were lost to the area. Several sturgeon species also disappeared, and the Syr Darya sturgeon may even be extinct.

The Ukrainian stickleback was the only native species to survive the high salt. Many other creatures, like the endemic amphipod Dikerogammarus aralensis, were also lost.

Some people even introduced new fish, like the European flounder, to try to help the fisheries.

History shows the Aral Sea has always been a changing place. Geographers like Nick Middleton believe the sea began to form during the Holocene. The course of the Amu Darya river has shifted many times over the centuries. In the past, the river even connected to the Caspian Sea through the Uzboy Channel. Muslim geographers noted the sea's disappearance as early as 1417 due to ancient river diversions. By 1848, Russian explorers like Alexey Butakov began making formal observations of the region.

The environmental collapse had a devastating impact on human life. The once-prosperous fishing industry was destroyed, leading to unemployment and economic hardship. The region also became heavily polluted, causing serious public health problems. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called this one of the planet's worst environmental disasters.

Because of this tragedy, UNESCO added documents about the sea to its Memory of the World Register.

There is some hope for recovery in the northern part of the sea. In 2005, Kazakhstan completed the Dike Kokaral dam to save the North Aral Sea.

This dam helped the water level rise and caused salinity to drop. By 2008, the water level was higher than it had been in 2003. This allowed fish to return to the area, making some fishing possible again.

While the South Aral Sea remains mostly dry, the North Aral Sea shows how ecosystems can sometimes be restored.