Aral Sea

By Jeff Wise Photographs by Anush Babajanyan It was the first human-made ecological disaster of the modern era. In 1960, the Aral Sea was the world’s fourth largest lake, a rich and productive ecosystem teeming with carp, bream, and other species—by one estimate, it provided a sixth of all fish…

The mighty inland sea lies stricken now, caught in the grip of some evil chemistry as its waters dry to salt and blow away as noxious dust to strike the people with illness and death.  It has never happened before within the time frame of a single generation, the disappearance of such a large…

From left to right, satellite images show the extent of the Aral Sea in 2000, 2007 and 2014. The Aral Sea dried up as a result of human activities and drought. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory) Central Asia's desiccated Aral Sea is steadily rising as Earth's mantle beneath it bulges,…

The Aral Sea was once one of the largest lakes in the world. But within just a few decades, human actions nearly dried it up. The surrounding regions in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have faced drought, soil salinization, and severe sandstorms. However, in recent years, international cooperation has given the Aral…

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It was shocking when researchers earlier this year revealed a river that originated from one of the largest glaciers in Canada abruptly disappeared over four days in 2016. The vanishing of the Slims river, however, was the result of global warming as the intense melting of the glacier led the…

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Since Pokémon was first unleashed upon the world in 1998, the ever-popular IP has birthed a video game franchise, a trading card game, an anime series, a film series, books, manga comics, music and plenty of merchandise. There are a total of 28 Pokémon films, made up of 22 animated…

Kazakh director Sana Serkebaeva takes us on an underwater journey through the flora and fauna of a dead sea forest. On her latest album, Aralkum, avant-violinist and electronic composer Galya Bisengalieva reflects on what she terms “one of the worst environmental disasters on the planet”, the shrinking of the Aral Sea.…

The Aral Sea basin in Central Asia and its major rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were the center of advanced river civilizations, and a principal hub of the Silk Roads over a period of more than 2,000 years. The region’s decline has been traditionally attributed to the Mongol…