Where'd the Aral Sea Go?

Can you point out the Aral Sea on a map? Yeah, neither can we…because it barely exists anymore. Once the fourth largest lake in the world (it’s actually a lake, not a sea), the Aral has gone dry. The lake reached its lowest level in modern history in August, as shown in these NASA satellite images (see the full transformation here).

What happened? Starting in the 1950s, the Soviets began diverting the region's two largest rivers away from the Aral in order to irrigate farmland. Those rivers could keep up for a while, replenishing the Aral with water from the Pamir Mountains, but in 2005 a drought caused one of them to slow to a trickle. Then the river stopped short of the lake altogether. The Aral’s edges contracted, and its water—already polluted with fertilizers and pesticides—started getting saltier and saltier. Its fisheries collapsed. Then dust began blowing off the parched lakebed, ruining farmers’ crops and soil and causing health problems.

So, can you find the Aral Sea on the map? Yes! It’s that economic and environmental wasteland between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

onEarth provides reporting and analysis about environmental science, policy, and culture. All opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of NRDC. Learn more or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.