THE END OF THE ARAL SEA
The Aral Sea was formerly the fourth largest lake in the world, a rich and bountiful ecological environment where fauna, flora, and human communities flourished for millennia
From the 1960s onwards the ecological disaster perpetrated under the Soviet Period had tragic consequences on the environment, the health of plants, animals, and humans living in its proximity.
Today more than 90% of the lake is lost and only a tiny fraction of the western and northern parts of the lake still exists although they continue to dry up. The freely available scientific publications proposed below provide detail on the history, mechanisms and effects of this disaster.
Micklin, P. 2008. Using satellite remote sensing to study and monitor the Aral Sea and adjacent zone. In Environmental problems of Central Asia and their economic, social and security impacts. Springer, Dordrecht, 31-58.
Micklin, P. 2016. The future Aral Sea: hope and despair. Environmental Earth Sciences, 75(9), 1-15.
Micklin, P., White, K., Alimbetova, Z., Ermakhanov, Z. 2018. Partial Recovery of the North Aral Sea: a Water Management Success Story in Central Asia. Regional Meeting of the IGU, Moscow, Russia, June 4-7, 2018, 1-9