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What Sea located between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is drying up?
Aral Sea
But more than two decades on, their paths have diverged. Today, the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan has been revived, with water and economy returning to Aralsk. But the South Aral Sea in Uzbekistan is almost completely desiccated, and its residents are choking on the air.
What caused the sea to shrink in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan?
In the early 21st century, the Soviet Union diverted the Aral sea’s primary fresh water sources, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, for irrigation of their cotton fields. As a result, the sea has shrunk to two bodies of water: The North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and the South Aral Sea in Uzbekistan.
What has happened to the Aral Sea which is on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan?
The South Aral Sea, half of which lies in Uzbekistan, was abandoned to its fate. Most of Uzbekistan’s part of the Aral Sea is completely shriveled up. Only excess water from the North Aral Sea is periodically allowed to flow into the largely dried-up South Aral Sea through a sluice in the dyke.
How does irrigation affect Central Asia?
Within this framework, in 1993 FAO launched a programme known as AQUASTAT, its global information system on water and agriculture (http://www.fao.org/nr/aquastat).
Where is Aral Sea located?
Eastern Central Asia
Located in Eastern Central Asia. It is c. 1,600 mi (2,580 km) long and flows generally northwest from sources in the snow-capped Pamirs along the border of Afghanistan and Tajikstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan through the Kara Kum desert in E Turkmenistan to a large delta on the Aral Sea in NW Uzbekistan.
Is the Caspian Sea disappearing?
According to a 2020 study, the Caspian — whose level has been falling by around seven centimeters a year since 1996 in tandem with rising temperatures in the Caspian basin — is projected to lose up to 18 meters of depth by the end of the century. The sea’s decline is driven overwhelmingly by rising temperatures.”
What problems were caused by the use of water from the Aral Sea for irrigation?
The diversion of water from the Amu Darya for irrigation decreased the amount of water entering the Aral Sea, which consequently began shrinking. Increased irrigation on the hot, dry floodplains of the Amu Darya and in adjacent regions resulted in evaporation that left salt deposits that make the soil infertile.
Is the Aral Sea freshwater or saltwater?
The Aral Sea is actually not a sea at all. It is an immense lake, a body of fresh water, although that particular description of its contents might now be more a figure of speech than practical fact. In the last 30 years, more than 60 percent of the lake has disappeared.
What is one of the main sources of water in Central Asia?
The main sources of water in Central Asia are the Syr Darya and Amu Darya Rivers, mostly fed by snow- and glacier-melt from the Pamir, Hindu Kush and Tien Shan mountain ranges.
What is the purpose of irrigation?
Irrigation helps to grow agricultural crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of less than average rainfall. Irrigation also has other uses in crop production, including frost protection, suppressing weed growth in grain fields and preventing soil consolidation.
Where is the Caspian and Black Sea?
The Caspian Sea is situated about 500 km east of the Black Sea, between southeastern Europe and Western Asia, east of the Caucasus Mountains, south of the vast Eurasian Steppe, and west of the Karakum and Kyzylkum Deserts of Central Asia.
Where are the irrigation resources located in Uzbekistan?
The Government of Uzbekistan is highly interested in improving water resources in the southern provinces of Uzbekistan, especially in the Karshi Steppe, where irrigation water is lifted up to 130-140 m using pumps. Electricity cost is thus an additional burden for the Uzbek government.
Where does the water in Uzbekistan come from?
The province produces natural gas, agricultural products (cotton, wheat, fodder crops, and fruits and vegetables) and raw materials for construction. About 75% of water is supplied by Amudarya River through the cascade of pumping stations.
How much land was irrigated in Uzbekistan in 1915?
As a result of this expansive policy, the irrigated land in the province increased from 63,000 hectares (ha) in 1915 to 514,000 ha in 2010 (Khodjaev and Avazov 2011).
Is the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan?
Aral Sea, Kazakh Aral Tengizi, Uzbek Orol Dengizi, a once-large saltwater lake of Central Asia. It straddles the boundary between Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south. Aral SeaShrinkage of the Aral Sea, 1960–2009.Adapted from Philip Micklin, Western Michigan University.