THE ARAL SEA PROBLEM

There are two major environmental disasters in the recent history of the former Soviet Union: Chernobyl and the Aral Sea. In 1960 the land-locked Aral Sea on the Afghanistan and Iran borders was the world's fourth largest such 'lake', but now, due to increased irrigation demands on its two main inflowing rivers, it is now half the size, 16 m lower and three times as salty. The effect on the 35 million people who needed the lake for its water, fish, reed beds and transport has been slowly devastating. Sadly, the huge hydrogeological changes which engineers have unwittingly triggered will take decades to reverse. This Paper investigates the nature, causes and consequences of the Aral Sea problem and discusses proposed solutions.