Can the Aral Sea still be saved?
by Felipe A. P. L. Costa [*].
INTRODUCTION. – This article draws attention to the degradation of the Aral Sea. Located in Central Asia, between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea – actually a vast inland lake – was once the fourth largest lake in the world, covering an area of 67,500 km2 [1]. In the 1960s, the two tributaries that fed the lake were diverted for agricultural purposes. With over 90% of its recharge compromised, the Aral began to dry up. By 1987, the signs of degradation were evident. The degradation imposed itself, and, as always happens in such cases, the civilian population paid the price. The fishing industry declined. Thousands of families who lived along the lake’s shores lost their source of income and food. Dust storms and sandstorms became frequent. The local climate changed. Although perhaps not yet the final chapter, the abandonment of cotton cultivation areas – the initial motivation for the irrigation project – is a sad and ironic chapter in this story. Mitigating measures and restoration attempts have been adopted, especially in Kazakhstan, but the future of the Aral Sea is still uncertain.
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Different types of projects are responsible for the degradation of a multitude of water bodies. Some examples: overexploitation of mineral water, eutrophication of lakes and lagoons, creation of dams along rivers and channelization of streams in urban areas. It’s not that corporate actions aim to degrade or exhaust resources. What generally occurs is that caution and critical thinking do not participate in the project. And those absences make a big difference.
Unaware of the project’s preliminary stages, the general public only becomes aware of the mistake when the ideas have already been put into practice. The adoption of harmful technologies, for example, is often sold to the public as progress or as something inevitable. And that’s not true.
The case of the Aral Sea illustrates what can happen when corporate greed and bureaucratic malpractice ignore the considerations made by Mr. Critical Thinking and Mrs. Caution [2].
1. THE ARAL SEA.
The Aral Sea – actually a vast inland lake – was once one of the largest lakes in the world in terms of surface area, behind only the Caspian Sea and Lakes Superior and Victoria. Located in Central Asia, between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral covered an area of 67,500 km2 – comparable to the sum of the territories of the states of Espírito Santo and Sergipe.
The degradation process began in the 1960s, three decades before the end of the Soviet Union (1922-1991). The lake was once fishable and navigable. In 1960, despite the opinion of technicians and scientists, the Soviet bureaucracy decided that the waters of the tributaries that fed the Aral (Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers) would be better used if diverted for irrigation purposes.
And so it was done…
With over 90% of its recharge compromised, the Aral began to dry up. The signs came from all sides – e.g., the lake’s surface area, the stored volume, and the water’s salinity. By 1987, with a deficient recharge, the lake’s surface had shrunk by ~40%; the water level was 13 m lower, and the volume corresponded to only one-third of the initial volume. The losses were evident and significant.
2. HOW BUREAUCRACY CORRODED A GIANT.
What was once a single lake divided into two. In 1987, it was already being spoken of as the Small Aral, in the north (Kazakhstan), and the Large Aral, in the south (Uzbekistan). Then, the Large Aral began to divide into two – the eastern portion (larger) and the western portion (smaller). The fragmentation process continued, so that the giant of the 1960s was being converted into a collection of smaller, shallower lakes, and, worst of all, disconnected from each other. Finally, in 2014, the eastern portion dried up completely [3].
By the beginning of the project, degradation was only a possibility; two decades later, the signs were stark. And the process seemed irreversible. By the end of the 1980s, the exposed lake bed was covered in salt; the salinity of the remaining waters had tripled. Many fish disappeared, along with much of the associated fauna. The fishing industry declined. Thousands of families who lived along the lake’s shores lost their source of income and food. Dust storms and sandstorms became frequent. The local climate changed for the worse. The mud suspended in the air and the poor quality of the water (brackish and contaminated by poisons and fertilizers) increased the incidence of diseases, especially among children. Finally, the cotton cultivation – the initial motivation for diverting the rivers – began to suffer. The changes in the climate that occurred in the region shortened the growing season, to the point that cotton no longer prospered in various areas around the lake. The abandonment of the cultivation areas is a sad and ironic chapter in this story, although perhaps not yet the final chapter [4].
3. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS.
The Aral Sea basin has been inhabited by human populations for 3,000 years (Micklin 2016), perhaps longer. The degradation process referred to in this article, however, is the result of what has happened over the past 50-60 years. One of the fundamental lessons to be learned from all this may be this: a sick body of water is unable to maintain healthy populations. If the rulers and economic elites have not yet learned this, they at least should learn to listen to technicians and scholars who deal with the subject.
In the Brazilian case, specifically, I make a parallel with the dramatic situation in which those who live on palafitas, such as in the Dique da Vila Gilda, in Santos (SP), the largest community of this type in the country. Of the 16.4 million Brazilians who today live in favelas (~8% of the country’s population) [5], many live on palafitas. The problem does not stop at Santos, of course. Building on mud or on sewage is the only option for many desperate people. Especially for those who live in cities that have a large body of water. It’s the case, for example, of what happens in the City of God (Manaus), in the Vila da Barca (Belém), and in Brasília Teimosa (Recife).
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NOTES.
[*] The previous version of this article (Do mar do Aral às águas mineiras: desastres anunciados) was published in the Jornal GGN, on 10/12/2017. The present version was extracted and adapted from the book O tamanho do mundo & outras conjecturas (forthcoming). About the Pacotes Mistos Completos campaign (through which it is possible to acquire, without postal expenses, packages with the four books by the author), see the article Ciência e poesia em quatro volumes. To acquire the package or a specific volume or for more information, contact [email protected]. To know other articles or obtain samples of the books, see here. [1] This and other information about the Aral were extracted from Micklin (2016). [2] About the impact of large projects, see Müller-Plantenberg & Ab’Sáber (1994). [3] See the article ‘Aral Sea’s Eastern basin is dry for first time in 600 years’, by Brian Clark Howard, published in the
