Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Aral Sea
- Background
- world's 4th
largest inland sea
- river Abu Darya and Syr
Darya have been irrigated
- these rivers run through
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and
turkmenistan
- main crop being grown
is cotton and fruit
- began to shrink in the 1960's
- only 10% of Aral sea remains in 2007
- more than 50 miles away from locals homes
- sea level fallen upto 40m
- land become mostly desert
- Environmental Catastrophe
- dying of the aral sea has led
to increase salinity levels in
agricultural soils
- cotton monocultures led to toxic
pollution due to pesticides (DDT)
sprayed over villages and cotton field
workers
- local climate change has increased
temperatures, there's less rain and more
desertification
- 150,000 tons of toxic
chemicals have
contaminated the water in
the last 10 years
- has led to polluting the soil and water supplies
- water quality has reduced fish numbers
- most water sources in
Karakalpakstan are polluted
- caused mainly by agro-industry
and mining industries
- Northern Karakalpakstan
schools/hospital have no access to
safe drinking water
- in the past 40-45 years
they've been using
mineralized and polluted
drinking water
- Socio-Economic Issues
- A prosperous industry which
oncle employed 60,000
people in all villages has
collapsed
- unemployment and economic
hardship are everywhere
- health problems caused by wind-blown
salt and dust from the dried out sea
bed
- pollution due to weapons, testing,
industrial projects, pesticides
- infant mortality is very
high. 10% of children
dying in their first year
- upto 10 million people may
be forced to migrate and
become environmental
refugees
- low birth weight, retardation, delayed puberty
- lack of hospitals and health centres in the region
- irrigation allowed the poor country
with few sources to remain one of
the worlds largest exports of
cotton