Editing Aral Sea

{{Short description|Lake between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Aral Sea
| other_name         = {{ubl
 | {{langx|kaa|Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi}}
 | {{langx|kk|Арал теңізі, Aral teñizi}}
 | {{langx|ru|Аральское море, Aralskoye more}}
 | {{langx|uz|Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi}}
 }}
| image              = AralSea1989 2014.jpg
| caption            = The Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right)
| image_bathymetry   = 
| caption_bathymetry = 
| location           = [[Central Asia]]<br />([[Kazakhstan]] – [[Uzbekistan]])
| coords             = {{Coord|45|N|60|E|type:waterbody_scale:5000000|display=inline,title}}
| embedded = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |zoom=5 |coord={{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}
| type               = [[Endorheic lake|Endorheic]], [[natural lake]], [[reservoir]] (North)
| inflow             = {{ubl|North: [[Syr Darya]]|South: [[Groundwater]] only|Previously: [[Amu Darya]]}}
| outflow            = 
| catchment          = {{Convert|1549000|km2|mi2|-2|abbr=on}}
| basin_countries    = {{Collapsible list|title=List<ref name=aral.unece.org/>|[[Afghanistan]]|[[Iran]]|[[Kazakhstan]]|[[Kyrgyzstan]]|[[Russia]]|[[Tajikistan]]|[[Turkmenistan]]|[[Uzbekistan]]}}
| length             =
| width              = 
| area               = {{ubl|{{Convert|68000|km2|mi2|-2|abbr=on}}<br>(1960, one lake)|{{Convert|28687|km2|mi2|0|abbr=on}}<br>(1998, two lakes)|'''{{Convert|17160|km2|mi2|0|abbr=on}}'''<br>'''(2004, four lakes)'''|North:<br>{{Convert|3300|km2|mi2|-1|abbr=on}} (2008)|South:<br>{{Convert|3500|km2|mi2|-1|abbr=on}} (2005)}}
| depth              = {{ubl|North: {{Convert|8.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2014){{citation needed|date=July 2014}}|South: {{Convert|14|-|15|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2005)}}
| max-depth          = {{ubl|North:|{{convert|42|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2008)<ref name="ENS wire"/>|{{Convert|30|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2003)|South:<br>{{Convert|37|-|40|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2005)|{{convert|102|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (1989)}}
| volume             = North: {{Convert|21.4|km3|mi3|0|abbr=on}} (2024)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abuova |first1=Nagima |title=Water Volume Rises in Northern Aral Sea, Hits 21.4 Billion Cubic Meters |url=https://astanatimes.com/2024/06/water-volume-rises-in-northern-aral-sea-hits-21-4-billion-cubic-meters/ |access-date=14 November 2024 |work=The Astana Times |date=24 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628134103/https://astanatimes.com/2024/06/water-volume-rises-in-northern-aral-sea-hits-21-4-billion-cubic-meters/ |archive-date=28 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| residence_time     = 
| shore              = 
| elevation          = {{ubl|North: {{Convert|42|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2011)|South: {{Convert|29|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2007)|{{Convert|53.4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (1960)<ref>[[JAXA]]. [http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/en/imgdata/topics/2007/tp071226.html "South Aral Sea shrinking but North Aral Sea expanding"]</ref>}}
| islands            = 
| pushpin_map        = West Asia
}}
The '''Aral Sea''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ær|əl}})<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/aral_sea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131140859/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/aral_sea |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 January 2018 |title = Aral Sea {{pipe}} Definition of Aral Sea in English by Lexico Dictionaries}}</ref>{{efn|{{langx|kk|Арал теңізі|Aral teñızı}}; {{langx|uz|Орол денгизи|Orol dengizi}}; {{langx|kaa|Арал теңизи|Aral teńizi}}; {{langx|ru|Аральское море|Aral'skoye more}}}} was an [[endorheic lake]] lying between [[Kazakhstan]] to its north and [[Uzbekistan]] to its south, which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up into desert by the 2010s. It was in the [[Aktobe Region|Aktobe]] and [[Kyzylorda Region|Kyzylorda]] regions of Kazakhstan and the [[Karakalpakstan]] autonomous region of Uzbekistan. The name roughly translates from [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] and [[Turkic languages]] to "Sea of Islands", a reference to the large number of islands (over 1,100) that once dotted its waters. The Aral Sea [[drainage basin]] encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of [[Afghanistan]], [[Iran]], Kazakhstan, [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Turkmenistan]].<ref name=aral.unece.org>{{cite web|url=https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/blanks/assessment/aral.pdf|title=DRAINAGE BASIN OF THE ARAL SEA AND OTHER TRANSBOUNDARY SURFACE WATERS IN CENTRAL ASIA|website=United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)|date= 2005|access-date= 4 February 2016}}</ref>

Formerly the [[list of lakes by area|third-largest lake in the world]] with an area of {{convert|68,000|km2|sqmi|-2|abbr=on}}, the Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by [[Soviet]] [[irrigation]] projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes: the [[North Aral Sea]], the eastern and western basins of the once far larger [[South Aral Sea]], and the smaller intermediate [[Barsakelmes Lake]].<ref name="sciam">{{cite news|author1=Philip Micklin |author2=Nikolay V. Aladin |title=Reclaiming the Aral Sea|url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=reclaiming-the-aral-sea&sc=rss|work=Scientific American|date=March 2008| access-date=17 May 2008}}</ref> By 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the western edge of the former southern sea. In subsequent years occasional water flows have led to the southeastern lake sometimes being replenished to a small degree.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/aral_sea.php|title= Satellite image, August 16, 2009 (click on "2009" and later links)|date= 24 September 2014}}</ref> Satellite images by [[NASA]] in August 2014 revealed that for the first time in modern history the eastern basin of the Aral Sea had completely dried up.<ref name="The Guardian 2014">{{cite news |last=Liston |first=Enjoli |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/01/satellite-images-show-aral-sea-basin-completely-dried?CMP=fb_gu |title=Satellite images show Aral Sea basin 'completely dried' |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |date=1 October 2014 |access-date=1 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Matt |date=8 December 2022 |title=Why Is the Aral Sea Shrinking? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/is-the-aral-sea-shrinking-1434959 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629170304/https://www.thoughtco.com/is-the-aral-sea-shrinking-1434959 |archive-date=29 June 2022 |access-date=19 September 2022 |website=ThoughtCo |language=English}}</ref> The eastern basin is now called the [[Aralkum Desert]].

In a Kazakhstani effort to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, the [[Dike Kokaral]] dam was completed in 2005. By 2008, the water level had risen {{Convert|12|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above that of 2003,<ref name="ENS wire">{{cite news |date=1 August 2008 |title=The Kazakh Miracle: Recovery of the North Aral Sea |publisher=[[Environment News Service]] |url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2008/2008-08-01-01.asp |url-status=live |access-date=22 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412135936/http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2008/2008-08-01-01.asp |archive-date=12 April 2010}}</ref> to {{Convert|42|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Stephen M Bland |title=Central Asia Caucasus |url=https://www.stephenmbland.com/#!kazakhstan-measuring-the-northern-aral/cewp |website=stephenmbland.com |language=en}}</ref> {{As of|2013}}, salinity dropped, and fish were again present in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/earthrise/2012/07/201271912543306106.html|title=Aral Sea Reborn|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=21 July 2012|access-date=6 January 2013}}</ref>

After the visit to Muynak in 2011, United Nations Secretary General [[Ban Ki-moon]] called the shrinking of the Aral Sea "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters".<ref>{{cite news|title=Aral Sea 'one of the planet's worst environmental disasters'| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/7554679/Aral-Sea-one-of-the-planets-worst-environmental-disasters.html |date=May 2010| location=London|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408214552/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7554679/Aral-Sea-one-of-the-planets-worst-environmental-disasters.html|archive-date=8 April 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> The region's once-prosperous fishing industry has been devastated, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. The water from the diverted [[Syr Darya]] river is used to irrigate about {{convert|2e6|ha|acre|spell=in|sigfig=1}} of farmland in the [[Ferghana Valley]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Syr Darya river, Central Asia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Syr-Darya |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=19 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref>  The Aral Sea region is heavily polluted, with consequent serious [[public health problems in the Aral Sea region|public health problems]]. [[UNESCO]] has added historical documents concerning the Aral Sea to its [[Memory of the World Programme|Memory of the World Register]] as a resource to study the environmental tragedy.

==Formation==
The [[Amu Darya]] river flowed into the [[Caspian Sea]] via the [[Uzboy|Uzboy Channel]] until the [[Holocene]]. Geographer [[Nick Middleton]] believes it did not begin to flow into the Aral Sea until that time.<ref name="physical1">Middleton, Nick; "The Aral Sea" in Shahgedanova Maria; ''The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia''; pp. 497-498</ref><ref>Velichko, Andrey and Spasskaya, Irina; "Climatic Change and the Development of Landscapes" in Shahgedanova Maria; ''The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia''; pp. 48-50</ref>

== Ecology ==
[[File:Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi.jpg|thumb|The [[Syr Darya sturgeon]] (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi'') was a species of fish possibly driven to extinction by the shrinkage of the Aral Sea.]]
[[File:Ukrainian stickleback (Pungitius platygaster).jpg|thumb|The [[Ukrainian stickleback]] (''Pungitius platygaster'') was the only native species of the Aral Sea to survive its reduction and salinization.]]

=== Native fish ===
Despite its former vast size, the Aral Sea had relatively low indigenous [[biodiversity]]. However, the Aral Sea basin had an exceptional array of [[endemic]] fish [[subspecies]] (including three endemic [[sturgeon]] species). Most of these still survive in the North Aral Sea, but some, such as the sturgeons, have been greatly reduced or even driven to [[extirpation]] by the lake's shrinkage. Native fish species of the lake included 

* [[ship sturgeon]] (''Acipenser nudiventris'')
* all three ''[[Pseudoscaphirhynchus]]'' sturgeon species
* [[Brown trout|Aral trout]] (''Salmo trutta aralensis'')
* [[northern pike]] (''Esox lucius'')
* [[Ide (fish)|ide]] (''Leuciscus idus oxianus'')
* [[Asp (fish)|asp]] (''Aspius aspius iblioides'')
* [[common rudd]] (''Scardinius erythropthalmus'')
* [[Turkestan barbel]] (''Luciobarbus capito conocephalus'') 
* [[Aral barbel]] (''L. brachycephalus brachycephalus'') 
* [[common bream]] (''Abramis brama orientalis'')
* [[White-eye bream|white-eyed bream]] (''Ballerus sapa aralensis'')
* [[Danube bleak]] (''Chalcalburnus chalcoides aralensis'')
* [[ziege]] (''Pelecus cultratus'')
* [[crucian carp]] (''Carassius carassius gibelio'')
* [[common carp]] (''Cyprinus carpio aralensis'')
* [[Wels catfish]] (''Silurus glanis'')
* [[Ukrainian stickleback]] (''Pungitius platygaster aralensis'')
* [[zander]] (''Sander lucioperca'')
* [[European perch]] (''Perca fluviatilis'')
* [[Eurasian ruffe]] (''Gymnocephalus cernuus'')

All these fish aside from the stickleback lived an [[Wiktionary:anadromous|anadramous]] or semi-anadromous lifestyle.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Aladin|first1=Nikolay Vasilevich|last2=Gontar|first2=Valentina Ivanovna|last3=Zhakova|first3=Ljubov Vasilevna|last4=Plotnikov|first4=Igor Svetozarovich|last5=Smurov|first5=Alexey Olegovich|last6=Rzymski|first6=Piotr|last7=Klimaszyk|first7=Piotr|date=2019|title=The zoocenosis of the Aral Sea: six decades of fast-paced change|journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research International|volume=26|issue=3|pages=2228–2237|doi=10.1007/s11356-018-3807-z|issn=0944-1344|pmc=6338704|pmid=30484051|bibcode=2019ESPR...26.2228A }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Nedoluzhko|first1=Artem V.|last2=Sharko|first2=Fedor S.|last3=Tsygankova|first3=Svetlana V.|last4=Boulygina|first4=Eugenia S.|last5=Barmintseva|first5=Anna E.|last6=Krasivskaya|first6=Anna A.|last7=Ibragimova|first7=Amina S.|last8=Gruzdeva|first8=Natalia M.|last9=Rastorguev|first9=Sergey M.|last10=Mugue|first10=Nikolai S.|date=2020-01-20|title=Molecular phylogeny of one extinct and two critically endangered Central Asian sturgeon species (genus Pseudoscaphirhynchus ) based on their mitochondrial genomes|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|page=722|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-57581-y|pmid=31959974|pmc=6971001|bibcode=2020NatSR..10..722N|issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nedoluzhko|first1=Artem V.|last2=Sharko|first2=Fedor S.|last3=Tsygankova|first3=Svetlana V.|last4=Boulygina|first4=Eugenia S.|last5=Barmintseva|first5=Anna E.|last6=Krasivskaya|first6=Anna A.|last7=Ibragimova|first7=Amina S.|last8=Gruzdeva|first8=Natalia M.|last9=Rastorguev|first9=Sergey M.|last10=Mugue|first10=Nikolai S.|date=2020-01-20|title=Molecular phylogeny of one extinct and two critically endangered Central Asian sturgeon species (genus Pseudoscaphirhynchus ) based on their mitochondrial genomes|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=722|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-57581-y|pmid=31959974|pmc=6971001|bibcode=2020NatSR..10..722N|issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The salinity increase and drying of the lake led to the [[local extinction]] of the Aral trout, ruffe, Turkestan barbel, and all sturgeon species, and dams now block their return and migration routes; the Aral trout and [[Syr Darya sturgeon]] (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi'') may be extinct due to their restricted range.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Red List of Kazakhstan ::: Aral trout (Salmo trutta aralensis)|url=http://www.redbookkz.info/species.php?lang=en&num=66|access-date=2020-07-18|website=www.redbookkz.info}}</ref> All other native fish, barring the stickleback (which persisted during the lake's shrinkage and salinity increase), were also extirpated, but many have returned to the [[North Aral Sea]] following its recovery from the 1990s onwards.<ref name=":1" />

=== Introduced fish ===
[[File:Platichthys flesus 1.jpg|thumb|The [[European flounder]] (''Platichthys flesus'') was a saltwater fish introduced to the Aral Sea.]]
[[File:Mylopharyngodon piceus.jpg|thumb|The [[black carp]] (''Mylopharyngodon piceus'') was a freshwater fish introduced to the Aral Sea.]]

Other [[salt-tolerant]] fish species were intentionally or inadvertently [[Introduced species|introduced]] during the 1960s when [[hydropower]] and [[irrigation]] projects reduced the flow of fresh water thereby increasing [[salinity]]. These include the [[Baltic herring]] (''Clupea harengus membras''), [[big-scale sand smelt]] (''Atherina boyeri caspia''), [[black-striped pipefish]] (''Syngnatus abaster caspius''), [[Caucasian dwarf goby]] (''Knipowitschia caucasica''), [[monkey goby]] (''Neogobius fluviatilis''), [[round goby]] (''N. melanostomus''), [[Syrman goby]] (''N. syrman''), [[Ponticola kessleri|bighead goby]] (''Ponticola kessleri''), [[Proterorhinus marmoratus|tubenose goby]] (''Proterorchinus marmoratus''), [[grass carp]] (''Ctenopharyngodon idella''), [[silver carp]] (''Hypophtalmichthys molitrix''), [[bighead carp]] (''H. nobilis''), [[black carp]] (''Mylopharyngodon piceus''), and [[northern snakehead]] (''Channa argus warpachowski'').

The herring, sand smelt, and gobies were the first [[planktivorous]] fish in the lake, leading to a collapse of the lake's [[zooplankton]] population. This in turn caused a collapse of the herring and sand smelt population from which neither species has recovered.<ref name=":1" /> All introduced species aside from the carp, snakehead, and (possibly) pipefish survived the lake's shrinkage and salinity increase, and during this time the [[European flounder]] (''Platichthys flesus'') was introduced to revive fisheries. The extirpated species (aside from possibly the pipefish) returned to the North Aral Sea following its recovery. Herring, sand smelt, gobies and flounder persisted in the [[South Aral Sea]] until increasing salinity extirpated all but the gobies.<ref name=":1" />

=== Invertebrates ===
[[File:Zebra mussel (8741971412).jpg|thumb|[[Zebra mussel]] (''Dreissena polymorpha''), a former dominant member of the sea's [[benthic fauna]] that has since returned to the [[North Aral Sea]].]]
[[File:Artemia parthenogenetica (Salinas de Añana).jpg|thumb|Parthenogenic brine shrimp (''Artemia parthenogenetica''), the dominant crustacean of the [[South Aral Sea]] and its fragments.]]
Prior to its shrinkage, the Aral Sea had about 250 species of native aquatic [[invertebrate]]s, the majority (about 80%) being [[freshwater]] species; the rest were [[marine invertebrates]] with ties to the [[Ponto-Caspian]] and [[Mediterranean]]-[[Atlantic]] fauna. The dominant species (excluding [[protozoa]]) were [[rotifer]]s, [[cladocera]]ns, and [[copepod]]s. Advanced crustaceans ([[Malacostraca]]) were represented by a single [[amphipod]] species, ''[[Dikerogammarus aralensis]]'', an endemic of the [[Syr Darya]] basin. There were several native [[bivalves]] in the Aral Sea, including members of the genera ''[[Dreissena]]'' (including an endemic subspecies of [[zebra mussel]], ''Dreissena polymorpha aralensis''), ''[[Hypanis (bivalve)|Hypanis]]'', and the [[lagoon cockle]] (''Cerastoderma glaucum'') (formerly considered distinct species ''Cerastoderma rhomboides'' and ''C. isthmica''). Native [[gastropods]] included ''[[Theodoxus pallasi]]'' and a member of ''[[Caspiohydrobia]]''.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=MUSSELpdb {{!}} valid sp. Cerastoderma rhomboides specimens|url=http://mussel-project.uwsp.edu/fmuotwaolcb/validsp_10774.html|access-date=2021-05-12|website=mussel-project.uwsp.edu}}</ref>

Many of these invertebrates had their numbers drastically reduced due to the introduced fish species. Later, during an unsuccessful attempt to introduce [[Mullet (fish)|mullet]] (''[[Mugil]]'' sp.) to the Aral from the [[Caspian Sea]], the [[Palaemon elegans|rockpool shrimp]] (''Palaemon elegans'') was inadvertently introduced to the sea. The shrimp is thought to be responsible for the [[extirpation]] of the near-endemic amphipod ''Dikerogammarus aralensis'', which now survives only in the Syr Darya basin. The copepod ''[[Calanipeda aquaedulcis]]'' was introduced to the Aral to replace the zooplankton species reduced by the herring population, and the [[North America]]n mud crab ''[[Rhithropanopeus harrisii]]'' was inadvertently introduced during this attempt as well.<ref name=":1" />

Later, as the lake's salinity increased, many of the freshwater-adapted species disappeared, only leaving behind the marine and saline species. However, the zooplankton population in the North Aral Sea has recovered as salinity has decreased from the 1990s onwards, with extirpated crustacean and rotifer species returning naturally via the Syr Darya River, at the expense of the saltwater species. The cladoceran ''[[Moina mongolica]]'', extirpated by the introduced fish species, has also returned. The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha aralensis'') has been reintroduced. In contrast, in the South Aral Sea only a few [[nematode]]s, rotifers, and [[Artemia parthenogenetica|parthenogenic brine shrimp]] (''Artemia parthenogenetica'') exist. The future prospects for aquatic invertebrates in all remaining Aral Sea fragments depend on their future changes in salinity.<ref name=":1" />

==History==
[[File:1848 10 -- -70 - Schooners near Kosaral fort in autumn. Sunset - Shevchenko -.jpg|thumb|First Russian boats on the Aral Sea, watercolor by [[Taras Shevchenko]], 1848]]
[[File:Survey of the Sea of Aral 1853.jpg|thumb|1853 map of the Aral Sea]]

Climate shifts have driven multiple phases of sea-level rise and fall. Inflow rates from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya are affected by glacial melt rates at the rivers' headwaters as well as precipitation within the river basins; cold, dry climates restrict both processes.<ref name="Cretaux-pp-100">Cretaux et al. 2013, pp. 100, 105-106</ref> Geologically driven shifts in the course of the Amu Darya between the Aral Sea and the Sarykamysh basins and anthropogenic water withdrawal from Amu Darya and Syr Darya have caused fluctuations in the Aral Sea's water level.<ref name="Silk Road">{{cite book
 |last=Sala
 |first=Renato
 |editor-last1=Yang
 |editor-first1=Lian Emlyn
 |editor-last2=Bork
 |editor-first2=Hans-Rudolf
 |editor-last3=Fang
 |editor-first3=Xuiqi
 |editor-last4=Mishke
 |editor-first4=Steffen
 |author-link=
 |date=28 February 2019
 |title=Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road
 |chapter=Quantitative Evaluation of the Impact on Aral Sea Levels by Anthropogenic Water Withdrawal and Syr Darya Course Diversion During the Medieval Period (1.0–0.8 ka BP)
 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-00728-7_5
 |location=
 |publisher=Springer, Cham
 |page=95-121 <!-- or pages= -->
 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-00728-7_5
 |isbn=978-3-030-00727-0
|s2cid=134377831
 }}</ref> Artificial irrigation systems began in ancient times and continue to the present.<ref>Cretaux et al. 2013, pp. 103</ref><ref>Boroffka 2010, pp. 295</ref> According to [[Sergey Tolstov]]'s theory, once Amu Darya was connected to Caspian sea, but this connection was broken by people 2500 years ago to feed the Aral Sea and irrigation system in [[Khwarazm|Khorezm]], more princely in [[Khiva]] and other cities in this region.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Disaster by design: disappearance of the Aral Sea, dry run for the emerging climate crisis |date=2012 |publisher=Emerald |isbn=978-1-78190-375-9 |editor-last=Edelstein |editor-first=Michael R. |series=Research in social problems and public policy |location=Bingley |editor-last2=Cerny |editor-first2=Astrid |editor-last3=Gadaev |editor-first3=Abror}} pp. 107-108</ref> 

The Aral Sea was part of the western frontier of the Chinese Empire during the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref name=Tang>{{cite book|last1=Gan|first1=Chunsong|title=A Concise Reader of Chinese Culture|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RR2nDwAAQBAJ&q=aral+sea+tang+dynasty&pg=PA24|page=24|publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811388675}}</ref>

During [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasion]], Mongols destroyed the cities and waterworks, which led to changes in Amu Darya's route, or some of its branches, and refilling the [[Sarygamysh Lake|Lake Sarykamysh]], that connected Caspian Sea again.  Aral Sea region was divided between three [[Mongol horde|Mongol Hordes]]: the Jochi or [[Golden Horde]], the [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanids]], and the [[Chagatai Khanate|Chagatai]].<ref name=":3"/>

Muslim geographers, such as [[Hafiz-i Abru]], wrote about the disappearance of the Aral Sea in 1417 due to diversions in both the [[Amu Darya]] and [[Syr Darya]].<ref name="Silk Road"/>

The Russian expedition of [[Alexey Butakov]] performed the first observations of the Aral Sea in 1848. The first steamer arrived in the Aral Sea three years later. The Aral Sea fishing industry began with the Russian dealers Lapshin, Ritkin, Krasilnikov, and Makeev, which later formed major fishing unions.

===Naval===
[[File:Michell-Russian-steam-barges-Kungrad.jpg|thumb|left|Ships of Imperial Russian Navy's Aral Flotilla in the 1850s]]

Russian naval presence on the Aral Sea began in 1847 with the founding of [[Raimsk]], soon renamed Fort Aralsk, near the mouth of the Syr Darya. As the Aral Sea basin is not connected to other bodies of water, the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] deployed its vessels by disassembling them in [[Orenburg]] on the [[Ural River]] and transporting them overland to be reassembled at Aralsk. The first two ships, assembled in 1847, were the two-masted schooners ''Nikolai'' and ''Mikhail''. The former was a warship; the latter a merchant vessel to establish fisheries. They surveyed the northern part of the sea in 1848, the same year that a larger warship, the ''Constantine'', was assembled. Commanded by Lt. Alexey Butakov ([[:ru:Бутаков, Алексей Иванович|Алексей Бутаков]]), the ''Constantine'' completed the survey of the entire Aral Sea over the next two years.<ref name="michell">{{Cite book|first1= Chokan Chingisovich |last1=Valikhanov |first2= Mikhail Ivanovich |last2=Venyukov |publisher=Edward Stanford |location=London |year=1865 |title=The Russians in Central Asia: their occupation of the Kirghiz steppe and the line of the Syr-Daria: their political relations with Khiva, Bokhara, and Kokan: also descriptions of Chinese Turkestan and Dzungaria |others= Translated by John Michell, Robert Michell |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023159621 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924023159621/page/n349 324]–329}}</ref> Exiled Ukrainian poet and painter [[Taras Shevchenko]] participated in the expedition and produced a number of sketches.<ref>{{Cite book |first=David Alan |last=Rich|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1998|isbn=0-674-91111-3|title=The Tsar's colonels: professionalism, strategy, and subversion in late Imperial Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF42jb5Fg4cC|page=247}}</ref>

[[File:Operational Navigation Chart F-5, 6th edition.jpg|thumb|Map including the Aral Sea and surrounding region ([[Defense Mapping Agency|DMA]], 1979)]]

In 1851 two newly built steamers arrived from Sweden. The geological surveys had found no coal deposits in the area so the Military Governor-General of Orenburg [[Vasily Perovsky]] ordered an "as large as possible supply" of saxaul (''[[Haloxylon ammodendron]]'', a desert shrub akin to the [[creosote bush]]) to be collected in Aralsk for the new steamers. Saxaul wood proved not to be a suitable fuel and in the later years the Aral Flotilla was provisioned, at substantial cost, by coal from the [[Donbas]].<ref name="michell" />

===Irrigation canals===
{{Further|Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature}}
[[File:Karakalpakstan Kyzyl Qala Cotton Picking.jpg|thumb|Cotton picking near [[Kyzyl-Kala]], [[Karakalpakstan]]]]
[[File:Aral Sea.gif|thumb|Timeline of shrinking]]
[[File:Shrinking Aral Sea 2000-2018.webm|thumb|left|Satellite images show the changing water levels in the Aral Sea from 2000 to 2018.]]<!-- No need size since it will be shown in full screen mode-->

In the early 1960s,<ref name="ns">{{cite news|url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12416910.800-soviet-cotton-threatens-a-regions-sea--and-its-children.html|title=Soviet cotton threatens a region's sea - and its children|date=18 November 1989|work=[[New Scientist]]|access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref> as part of the [[Government of the Soviet Union#Sovnarkom|Soviet government]] plan for [[cotton]], or "white gold", to become a major export, the Amu Darya river in the south and the Syr Darya river in the east were diverted from feeding the Aral Sea to irrigate the desert in an attempt to grow [[cotton]], [[melon]]s, [[rice]] and [[cereal]]s.<ref name="Kapus">Ryszard Kapuscinski, ''Imperium'', 2019, pp.255-260.</ref> This plan was initially successful, and by 1988, Uzbekistan was the world's largest exporter of cotton.<ref>{{cite web|author=USDA-Foreign Agriculture Service|title=Cotton Production Ranking|url= http://www.cotton.org/econ/cropinfo/cropdata/rankings.cfm|publisher=National Cotton Council of America|year=2013|access-date=14 October 2013}}</ref> However to achieve these results farms relied heavily on [[Agrochemical|agro-chemicals]], including [[Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds|dioxins]], which were used even after being banned. Farmers, including children, were intoxicated by these chemicals. Due to abuse, the soil crucially degraded.<ref name=":3" /> Though production levels declined from its peak, cotton remains [[Cotton production in Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan's main cash crop]], accounting for 17% of the country's exports in 2006.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |title=Cotton production linked to images of the dried up Aral Sea basin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2014/oct/01/cotton-production-linked-to-images-of-the-dried-up-aral-sea-basin |work=The Guardian |date=1 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The True Costs of Cotton: Cotton Production and Water Insecurity |url=https://ejfoundation.org/resources/downloads/EJF_Aral_report_cotton_net_ok.pdf |publisher=[[Environmental Justice Foundation]] (EJF)}}</ref><ref>''Uzbekistan in Numbers 2006'', State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 2007 {{in lang|ru}}.</ref>

Large scale construction of irrigation canals first began in the 1930s and was greatly increased in the 1960s.<ref name="Gos">Simon N. Gosling, ''Sustainability - The Geography Perspective'', University of Nottingham, 2012</ref> Many canals were poorly built, allowing leakage and evaporation. Between 30 and 75% of the water from the [[Qaraqum Canal]], the largest in Central Asia, went to waste.<ref name="Kapus" /> It was estimated in 2012 that only 12% of Uzbekistan's irrigation canal length was waterproofed.<ref name="Gos" /> Only 28% of interfarm irrigation channels, and 21% of onfarm channels have [[Canal lining|anti-infiltration linings]], which retain on average 15% more water than unlined channels. Only 77% of farm intakes have [[Flow measurement#Open-channel flow measurement|flow gauges]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.cawater-info.net/aral/aral0_e.htm|title=ca-water.net, a knowledge base for projects in the Central Asia|year=2003|access-date=1 November 2010}}</ref>

By 1960, between {{convert|20|and|60|km3|cumi|lk=out|abbr=on}} of water each year was going to the land instead of the Aral Sea and the sea began to recede. From 1961 to 1970, the Aral's level fell an average of {{convert|20|cm|in|abbr=on}} per year. In the 1970s the rate nearly tripled to {{convert|50|-|60|cm|abbr=on}} per annum, and in the 1980s to {{convert|80|-|90|cm|abbr=on}} per annum. The amount of water taken for irrigation from the rivers doubled between 1960 and 2000. In the first half of the 20th century prior to the irrigation, the sea's water level above sea level held steady at 53 m. By 2010, the large Aral was 27 m and the small Aral 43 m above sea level.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Micklin |first1=Philip |date=December 2017 |title=The past, present, and future Aral Sea |journal=Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=193–213|doi=10.1111/j.1440-1770.2010.00437.x }}</ref>

The disappearance of the lake was no surprise to the Soviets, they expected it to happen long before. As early as 1964, Aleksandr Asarin at the [[Hydroproject]] Institute pointed out that the lake was doomed, explaining, "It was part of the [[Five-year plans of the Soviet Union|five-year plans]], approved by the [[Government of the Soviet Union|council of ministers]] and the [[Politburo]]. Nobody on a lower level would dare to say a word contradicting those plans, even if it was the fate of the Aral Sea."<ref name="winse">{{cite news|author=Michael Wines|url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E4DA1F3BF93AA35751C1A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=Grand Soviet Scheme for Sharing Water in Central Asia Is Foundering|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 December 2002|access-date=8 March 2008}}</ref>

The reaction to the predictions varied. Some Soviet experts apparently considered the Aral to be "nature's error", and a Soviet engineer said in 1968, "it is obvious to everyone that the evaporation of the Aral Sea is inevitable."<ref>{{cite book|last=Bissell|first=Tom|title=Eternal Winter: Lessons of the Aral Sea Disaster|pages=41–56|publisher=Harper's|year=2002}}</ref> On the other hand, starting in the 1960s, a [[Northern river reversal|large-scale project]] was proposed to redirect part of the flow of the rivers of the [[Ob River|Ob]] basin to Central Asia over a gigantic canal system. Refilling of the Aral Sea was considered one of the project's main goals. However, due to its staggering costs and the negative public opinion in [[RSFSR|Russia proper]], the federal authorities had abandoned the project by 1986.<ref>{{cite book|last=Glantz|first= Michael H.|title=Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea...|page=174|location=Cambridge, New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=0-521-62086-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YXnBxZg7c4C|access-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>

From 1960 to 1998, the sea's surface area shrank by 60%, and its volume by 80%. In 1960, the Aral Sea had been the world's [[List of lakes by area|fourth-largest]] lake with an area of {{convert|68000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and a volume of {{convert|1100|km3|cumi|abbr=on}}. By 1998, it had dropped to {{convert|28687|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and eighth largest. Its salinity increased; having originally been 10&nbsp;g/L,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Plotnikov|first1=I. S.|last2= Aladin|first2= N. V.|last3= Zhakova|first3=L. V.|last4= Mossin|first4= J.|last5=Høeg|first5= J. T. |title=Past, Present and Future of the Aral Sea: A Review of its Fauna and Flora before and during the Regression Crisis |journal=Zoological Studies |date=2023 |volume=62 |issue=19 |page=4 |doi=10.6620/ZS.2023.62-19 |pmid=37408707 |pmc=10317995 |url=https://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/62/62-19.pdf |access-date=October 21, 2023}}</ref> by 1990 it was at 376&nbsp;g/L.<ref name="sciam" /> (By comparison, seawater is typically 35&nbsp;g/L, and the [[Dead Sea]] between 300 and 350&nbsp;g/L.)

In 1987, the lake split into two separate bodies of water: the [[North Aral Sea]] (the Lesser Sea, or Small Aral Sea) and the [[South Aral Sea]] (the Greater Sea, or Large Aral Sea). In June 1991, Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union. [[Craig Murray]], UK ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2002, attributes the shrinkage of the Aral Sea in the 1990s to president [[Islam Karimov]]'s cotton policy. The enormous irrigation system was massively wasteful, [[crop rotation]] was not used, and huge quantities of [[pesticides]] and [[fertilizer]] were applied. The runoff from the fields washed these chemicals into the shrinking sea, creating severe pollution and health problems. As demand for cotton increased, the government applied more pesticides and fertilizer to the [[monoculture|monocultured]] and depleted soil. Forced labor was used and profits were siphoned off by the powerful and well-connected.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dirty Diplomacy|author=Craig Murray|publisher=Scribner|year=2007}}</ref>

In 2003, the South Aral further divided into eastern and western basins. The waters in the deepest parts of the sea were saltier and didn't mix with the top waters, so only the top of the sea was heated in the summer, resulting in faster evaporation than had been predicted. A plan was announced for the recovery of the North Aral Sea by building [[Dike Kokaral]], a concrete dam separating the two halves of the Aral Sea.

In 2004, the sea's surface area was {{convert|17160|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, 25% of its original size, and a nearly fivefold increase in salinity had killed most of its flora and fauna. Dike Kokaral was completed in 2005 and, as of 2006, some recovery of sea level had been recorded.<ref name=reclaim>{{cite news |last=Greenberg |first=Ilan |title=A vanished sea reclaims its form in Central Asia |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/world/asia/a-vanished-sea-reclaims-its-form-in-central-asia.html |work=[[International Herald Tribune]] |date=7 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220227/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/world/asia/a-vanished-sea-reclaims-its-form-in-central-asia.html |archive-date=22 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Aral sea 1985 from STS.jpg|Aral Sea from space (north at bottom), August 1985
File:AralSea(1997)_NASA_STS085-503-119.jpg|Aral Sea from space (north at bottom), August 1997
File:Aral Sea Continues to Shrink, August 2009.jpg|Aral Sea from space (north at top), August 2009
File:The Shrinking Aral Sea Recovers 2010.jpg|Aral Sea in August 2010, with part of the eastern basin reflooded from heavy snowmelt.
File:Aralsea tmo 2014231 lrg.jpg|Aral Sea completely loses its eastern lobe in August 2014
File:Aral Sea August 2017.jpg|Aral Sea from space, August 2017. Part of the eastern basin was reflooded from heavy snowmelt in 2015.
File:Aral in April 2018 (Iss055e018638 lrg).jpg|April 2018
File:The Aral Sea (MODIS 2019-10-11).jpg|Aral Sea once again completely loses its eastern lobe in October 2019
File:Aral Sea 2021.jpg|August 2021
File:Aral Sea 2024-05-05.png|Further area reductions in western lakes, as captured in May 2024
File:The Aral Sea (21 Aug 2024).png|August 2024
</gallery>

== Impact on environment, economy, and public health ==
The Aral Sea is considered an example of [[ecosystem collapse]].<ref name='Foundations'>{{cite journal |last1=Keith |first1=DA |last2=Rodríguez |first2=J.P. |last3=Rodríguez-Clark |first3=K.M. |last4=Aapala |first4=K. |last5=Alonso |first5=A. |last6=Asmussen |first6=M. |last7=Bachman |first7=S. |last8=Bassett |first8=A. |last9=Barrow |first9=E.G. |last10=Benson |first10=J.S. |last11=Bishop |first11=M.J. |last12=Bonifacio |first12=R. |last13=Brooks |first13=T.M. |last14=Burgman |first14=M.A. |last15=Comer |first15=P. |last16=Comín |first16=F.A. |last17=Essl |first17=F. |last18=Faber-Langendoen |first18=D. |last19=Fairweather |first19=P.G. |last20=Holdaway |first20=R.J. |last21=Jennings |first21=M. |last22=Kingsford |first22=R.T. |last23=Lester |first23=R.E. |last24=Mac Nally |first24=R. |last25=McCarthy |first25=M.A. |last26=Moat |first26=J. |last27=Nicholson |first27=E. |last28=Oliveira-Miranda |first28=M.A. |last29=Pisanu |first29=P. |last30=Poulin |first30=B. |last31=Riecken |first31=U. |last32=Spalding |first32=M.D. |last33=Zambrano-Martínez |first33=S. |title=Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2013 |volume=8 |issue=5 |page=e62111 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0062111 |pmid=23667454 |pmc=3648534 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...862111K |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[ecosystem]]s of the Aral Sea and the [[river delta]]s feeding into it have been nearly destroyed, largely because of the salinity being dramatically higher than ocean water.<ref name="sciam" /> The receding sea has left huge plains covered with salt and toxic chemicals from [[Vozrozhdeniya island#History|weapons testing]], industrial projects, and runoff of pesticides and fertilizer.  Because of the shrinking water source and worsening water and [[soil quality]], pesticides were increasingly used from the 1960s to raise cotton yield, which further polluted the water with toxins (e.g. [[Lindane|HCH]], [[2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin|TCCD]], [[DDT]]).<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |first=Phillip |last=Whish-Wilson |url=http://www.jcu.edu.au/jrtph/vol/v01whish.pdf |title=The Aral Sea environmental health crisis |journal=Journal of Rural and Remote Environmental Health |volume=1 |issue=2 |year=2002 |access-date=17 May 2008 |page=30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409044733/http://www.jcu.edu.au/jrtph/vol/v01whish.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Industrial pollution also resulted in [[polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]] and heavy-metal contamination.<ref name="sciencedirect.com">{{cite journal |last1=Jensen |first1=S. |last2=Mozhitova |first2=Z. |last3=Zetterstrom |first3=R. |date=5 November 1997 |title=Environmental pollution and child health in the Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=206 |issue=2–3 |pages=187–193 |doi=10.1016/S0048-9697(97)80009-5 |pmid=9394482 |bibcode=1997ScTEn.206..187J}}</ref>

Owing to the insufficiency of water left in the Aral sea, concentrations of these pollutants rose drastically both in the remaining water and in the dry beds. This resulted in wind-borne toxic dust that spread quite widely. People living in the lower parts of the river basins and former shore zones ingested pollutants through drinking local water and inhaling contaminated dust.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Hara |first1=Sarah |last2=Wiggs |first2=Giles |last3=Mamedov |first3=Batyr |last4=Davidson |first4=George |last5=Hubbard |first5=Richard |date=19 February 2000 |title=Exposure to airborne dust contaminated with pesticide in the Aral Sea region |journal=The Lancet |volume=355 |issue=9204 |pages=627–628 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(99)04753-4 |pmid=10696990 |s2cid=42980999}}</ref> Furthermore, due to absorption by plants and livestock, toxins — many of which bioaccumulate and are not easily broken down or excreted by the liver and kidneys — entered the food chain.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> Inhabitants of the surrounding areas commonly experience a shortage of fresh water, and [[public health problems in the Aral Sea region|health problems]] are widespread — including high rates of certain cancers, respiratory illnesses including [[tuberculosis]] (mostly [[Drug-resistant tuberculosis|drug resistant]]), digestive disorders, [[anaemia]], and infectious diseases. Liver, kidney, and eye problems may also be due to the toxic dust storms. Together, this presented an unusually high fatality rate among vulnerable age groups: child mortality stood at 75 per 1,000 in 2009, while maternal mortality was 12 in every 1,000.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm |title=Aral Sea - Aral Sea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316062917/http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm |archive-date=16 March 2009}}</ref><ref>Mętrak M. Health and social consequences of the Aral Lake disaster. In: Chwil M., Skoczylas M.M. (red.). Contemporary research on the state of the environment and the medicinal use of plants. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego w Lublinie, pp. 99-108. Accessible in: [https://wydawnictwo.up.lublin.pl/files/wydawnictwo/2019/ksiazki/e_ksiazka/wspolczesne_badania....pdf https://wydawnictwo.up.lublin.pl/e-ksiazka]</ref>

The dust storms have also contributed to [[water shortages]] through salt deposition.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/impacts%20to%20life%20in%20the%20region.htm|title=The Aral Sea Crisis|publisher=Thompson, Columbia University|access-date=6 January 2013}}</ref> Overusing pesticides on crops to preserve yields has exacerbated this.<ref name=":0" /> Crops are destroyed where salt is deposited by the wind. The most heavily affected fields must be flushed with water four times per day to remove salt and toxic matter.<ref name=":0" /> A 1998 study indicated that few crops (besides [[fodder]]) tolerate the degradation, restricting what [[Kazakhstan]] farmers now choose to seed.<ref name="Saiko">{{cite journal |last1=Saiko |first1=Tatyana |date=1998 |title=Geographical and socio-economic dimensions of the Aral Sea crisis and their impact on the potential for community action |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |volume=39 |issue=2 |page=230 |bibcode=1998JArEn..39..225S |doi=10.1006/jare.1998.0406}}</ref>

Inland seas and lakes generally moderate a region's climate through humidification, regulation of thermal energy, and peri-winter [[albedo effects]].<ref name="https">{{cite journal |last1=McDermid |first1=Sonali Shukla |last2=Winter |first2=Jonathan |date=December 2017 |title=Anthropogenic forcings on the climate of the Aral Sea: A regional modeling perspective |journal=Anthropocene |volume=20 |pages=48–60 |doi=10.1016/j.ancene.2017.03.003|bibcode=2017Anthr..20...48M }}</ref> Loss of water in the Aral Sea has changed surface temperatures and wind patterns. This has led to a broader annual temperature range (about a 4 to 12 °C broadening) and more dust in storms locally and regionally.<ref name="https" />

===Biology===
The Aral Sea fishing industry, which at its peak employed some 40,000 and reportedly produced one-sixth of the Soviet Union's entire fish catch, has been devastated. In the 1980s commercial harvests were becoming unsustainable, and by 1987 commercial harvest became nonexistent. Due to the declining sea levels, salinity levels became too high for the 20 native fish species to survive. The only fish that could survive the high-salinity levels was flounder.  Also, as water has receded, former fishing towns along the original shores have become [[ship graveyard]]s.<ref name="Chen">{{cite news |last=Chen |first=Dene-Hern |date=16 March 2018 |title=Once Written Off for Dead, the Aral Sea Is Now Full of Life |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/north-aral-sea-restoration-fish-kazakhstan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316062314/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/north-aral-sea-restoration-fish-kazakhstan/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 March 2018}}</ref>

[[Aral, Kazakhstan|Aral]], originally the main fishing port, is now about 15 kilometres from the sea and has seen its population decline dramatically since the beginning of the crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71781 |title=Kazakhstan: Measuring the Northern Aral's Comeback |last=Bland |first=Stephen M. |date=27 January 2015 |work=EurasiaNet |access-date=19 September 2017}}</ref> The town of [[Moynaq]] in Uzbekistan had a thriving harbour and fishing industry that employed about 30,000 people;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/reallives_3304.html |title= Uzbekistan: Moynaq village faces the Aral Sea disaster |publisher= [[UNICEF]] |access-date= 1 May 2010 |archive-date= 10 March 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170310014357/https://www.unicef.org/ceecis/reallives_3304.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> now it lies 30–90 kilometres from the shore. Fishing boats lie scattered on the dry dusty land that was once covered by water; many have been there for 20 years.

The South Aral Sea remains too saline to host any species other than [[halotolerant]] organisms.<ref>Aladin et al. 2018, p. 2234.</ref> The South Aral has been incapable of supporting fish since the late 1990s, when the flounder were killed by rising salinity levels.<ref name = "Ermakhanov 2012">Ermakhanov et al. 2012, p. 7.</ref>

Also destroyed is the [[muskrat]]-trapping industry in the deltas of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which used to yield as many as 500,000 pelts a year.<ref name="winse"/>

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:AralSeaModis.jpg|Aral Sea dust storm, March 2010
File:Aralship2.jpg|Abandoned ship near Aral, Kazakhstan
File:AralskHarbor.jpg|A former harbour in the city of Aral
File:Kazakh fisherman Aralsk.jpg|Local Kazakh fisherman harvesting the day's catch
</gallery>

===Vulnerable populations===
Local inhabitants are the most vulnerable population in this environmental health crisis due to the highly polluted and salinated water used for drinking and the dried seabed.<ref name="auto2">{{citation |last1=Ataniyazova |first1=Oral |title=3rd World Water Forum Regional Cooperation in Shared Water Resources in Central Asia Kyoto |year=2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220125226/http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/mckinney/ce385d/papers/atanizaova_wwf3.pdf |contribution=Health and Ecological Consequences of the Aral Sea Crisis |contribution-url=http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/mckinney/ce385d/papers/atanizaova_wwf3.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2018 |access-date=28 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Toxic chemicals associated with pesticide use have been found in blood and breast milk of mothers; specifically organochlorides, polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs), DDT compounds, and TCDD.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> These toxins can be, and often are, passed on to the children of these mothers, resulting in low birthweight and congenital abnormalities. The rate of infants being born with abnormalities is five times higher in this region than in European countries.<ref name="auto2"/> The Aral Sea region has 26% of its children born at low birthweight, which is two standard deviations away from a national population study gathered by the WHO.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Crighton |first1=Eric James |last2=Barwin |first2=Lynn |last3=Small |first3=Ian |last4=Upshur |first4=Ross |date=April 2011 |title=What have we learned? A review of the literature on children's health and the environment in the Aral Sea area |journal=International Journal of Public Health |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=125–138 |doi=10.1007/s00038-010-0201-0 |pmid=20976516 |pmc=3066395}}</ref>

Exposures to toxic chemicals from the dry seabed and polluted water have caused other health issues in women and children. Renal tubular dysfunction has become a large health concern in children in the Aral Sea region as it is showing extremely high prevalence rates. Renal tubular dysfunction can also be related to growth and developmental stunting.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaneko |first1=K |last2=Chiba |first2=M |last3=Hashizume |first3=M |last4=Kunii |first4=O |last5=Sasaki |first5=S |last6=Shimoda |first6=T |last7=Yamashiro |first7=Y |last8=Caypil |first8=W |last9=Dauletbaev |first9=D |date=4 March 2003 |title=Renal tubular dysfunction in children living in the Aral Sea Region |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood |volume=88 |issue=11 |pages=966–968 |doi=10.1136/adc.88.11.966 |pmid=14612357 |pmc=1719339}}</ref> This, in conjunction with the already high rate of low-birthweight children and children born with abnormalities, contributes to severe negative health effects and outcomes for children. These issues are compounded by the lack of research on maternal and child health effects caused by the demise of the Aral Sea. For example, only 26 English-language peer-reviewed articles and four reports on children's health were produced between 1994 and 2008.<ref name="auto"/> In addition, there is a lack of health infrastructure and resources in the Aral Sea region to combat the health issues that have arisen.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov">{{cite journal |last1=Small |first1=Ian |last2=van der Meer |first2=J |last3=Upshur |first3=Ross |date=1 June 2001 |title=Acting on an environmental health disaster: the case of the Aral Sea. |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=109 |issue=6 |pages=547–549 |doi=10.1289/ehp.01109547 |pmid=11445505 |pmc=1240333}}</ref>

There is a lack of medication and equipment in many medical facilities, so health professionals do not have access to the necessary supplies to do their jobs in the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan regions.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov"/> There is also meager development of a health information system that would allow for extensive research or surveillance of emerging health issues due to Aral Sea issues.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov"/> An absence of a primary care approach in the health systems of this region also hinders services and access that could prevent and treat issues stemming from the Aral Sea crisis, especially in women and children.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov"/>

The impoverished are also particularly vulnerable to the environmental and health related effects of changes to the Aral Sea. These populations were most likely to reside downstream from the Basin and in former coastal communities.<ref name="auto3">{{cite journal |last1=Peachey |first1=Everett |date=2004 |title=The Aral Sea Basin Crisis and Sustainable Water Resource Management in Central Asia |url=https://jpia.princeton.edu/sites/jpia/files/2004-1.pdf |journal=Journal of Public and International Affairs |volume=15 |pages=1–20}}</ref> They were also among the first to be detrimentally affected, representing at least 4.4 million people in the region.<ref name="auto3"/> Considered to have the worst health in this region, their plight was not helped when their fishery livelihoods vanished with the decreasing levels of water and loss of many aquatic species.<ref name="auto3"/> Thus, those in poverty are entrenched in a vicious cycle.

==Solutions==
===Proposed environmental solutions===
Many different solutions to the problems have been suggested over the years, varying in feasibility and cost, including:
*Improving the quality of [[irrigation]] canals{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}
*Using alternative [[cotton]] species that require less water<ref>{{cite journal|title= Aral Sea and sustainable development|date=25 March 2013 |pmid=12793660 |volume=47 |issue=7–8 |journal=Water Sci Technol |pages=41–7 |last1 = Usmanova |first1 = RM|doi=10.2166/wst.2003.0669 }}</ref>
*Promoting non-agricultural economic development in upstream countries<ref>{{cite journal|author=Olli Varis |title=Resources: Curb vast water use in central Asia. [Nature Vol 514(7520)]|journal=Nature News |volume=514 |issue=7520 |pages=27–9 |doi=10.1038/514027a |pmid=25279902 |date=2 October 2014 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
*Using fewer chemicals on the cotton{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}
*Cultivating crops other than cotton{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}
*[[Northern river reversal|Redirecting water]] from the [[Volga]], [[Ob River|Ob]] and [[Irtysh]] rivers to restore the Aral Sea to its former size in 20–30 years at a cost of US$30–50 billion<ref name=ecoworld>{{cite web|author=Ed Ring|title=Release the Rivers: Let the Volga & Ob Refill the Aral Sea|url=http://www.ecoworld.com/Home/Articles2.cfm?TID=354|publisher=Ecoworld|date=27 September 2004|access-date=17 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429235809/http://www.ecoworld.com/home/articles2.cfm?TID=354|archive-date=29 April 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*Pumping sea water into the Aral Sea from the [[Caspian Sea]] via a pipeline, and diluting it with fresh water from local catchment areas<ref name="The Internet Encyclopedia of Science">{{cite web|title=Aral Sea Refill: Seawater Importation Macroproject|url=http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Aral_Sea_refill.html|publisher=The Internet Encyclopedia of Science|date=29 June 2008|access-date=8 October 2009|archive-date=3 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403142119/http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Aral_Sea_refill.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Cotton handle peeling (Buka district, Tashkent region, Uzbekistan)-03.jpg|thumb|[[Cotton production in Uzbekistan|Cotton picking]] in Uzbekistan. [[Cotton]] is one of the most water-intensive plants.<ref name="guardian"/>]]
In January 1994, [[Kazakhstan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyzstan]] signed a deal to pledge 1% of their budgets to help the sea recover.

In March 2000, UNESCO presented their "Water-related vision for the Aral Sea basin for the year 2025".<ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001262/126259mo.pdf
 |title = Water-related vision for the Aral Sea basin for the year 2025
 |publisher = UNESCO
 |language = en-us, ru
 |date = March 2000 |access-date = 1 April 2010
}}</ref>

By 2006, the [[World Bank]]'s restoration projects, especially in the North Aral, were giving rise to some unexpected, tentative relief in what had been an extremely pessimistic picture.<ref name="A Witch's Brew">{{cite news|title=A Witch's Brew |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/5218248.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |date=July 2006 |access-date=17 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213020010/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/5218248.stm |archive-date=13 December 2007 }}</ref>

===Restoration strategies===
{{anchor|ASBP}}

====Technology====
Funded in part by the [[United Nations Development Programme]], implementations in Kazakhstan such as laser levelling and irrigation optimization using energy-efficient technologies has shown effectiveness.<ref name="undpwork">{{cite web |title=Can the Aral Sea make a comeback? |url=https://undpeurasia.exposure.co/can-the-aral-sea-make-a-comeback#! |website=UNDP Eurasia |publisher=United Nations}}</ref>

===Aral Sea Basin Programme - 1===
The future of the Aral Sea and the responsibility for its survival are now in the hands of the five countries: [[Kazakhstan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], and [[Turkmenistan]]. In 1994, they adopted the Aral Sea Basin Programme<ref name="Shawki Barghouti 2006">{{cite report|title=Case Study of the Aral Sea Water and Environmental Management Project: an independent evaluation of the World Bank's support of regional programmes|website=[[The World Bank]]|author= Shawki Barghouti|url=http://water.worldbank.org/water/publications/case-study-aral-sea-water-and-environmental-management-project-independent-evaluation-w|date=2006 |access-date= 1 November 2010}}</ref> or '''ASBP'''. The Programme's four objectives are:
*To stabilize the environment of the Aral Sea Basin
*To rehabilitate the disaster area around the sea
*To improve the management of the international waters of the Aral Sea Basin
*To build the capacity of institutions at the regional and national level to advance the programme's aims

====ASBP: Phase One====
The first phase of the plan effectively began with the first involvement from the World Bank in 1992, and was in operation until 1997. It was ineffectual for a number of reasons, but mainly because it was focused on improving directly the land around the Aral Sea, whilst not intervening in the water usage upstream. There was considerable concern amongst the Central Asian governments, which realised the importance of the Aral Sea in the ecosystem and the economy of Central Asia, and they were prepared to cooperate, but they found it difficult to implement the procedures of the plan.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

This is due in part to a lack of co-operation among the affected people. The water flowing into the Aral Sea has long been considered an important commodity, and trade agreements have been made to supply the downstream communities with water in the spring and summer months for irrigation. In return, they supply the upstream countries with fuel during the winter, instead of storing water during the warm months for hydroelectric purposes in winter. However, very few legal obligations are binding these contracts, particularly on an international stage.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

====ASBP: Phase Two====
Phase Two of the Aral Sea Basin programme followed in 1998 and ran for five years. The main shortcomings of phase two were due to its lack of integration with the local communities involved. The scheme was drawn up by the World Bank, government representatives, and various technical experts, without consulting those who would be affected. An example of this was the public awareness initiatives, which were seen as propagandist attempts by people with little care or understanding of their situation.  These failures have led to the introduction of a new plan, funded by a number of institutions, including the five countries involved and the World Bank.

====ASBP: Phase Three====
In 1997, a new plan was conceived which would continue with the previous restoration efforts of the Aral Sea. The main aims of this phase are to improve the irrigation systems currently in place, whilst targeting water management at a local level. The largest project in this phase is the North Aral Sea Project, a direct effort to recover the northern region of the Aral Sea. The North Aral Sea Project's main initiative is the construction of a dam across the Berg Strait, a deep channel which connects the North Aral Sea to the South Aral Sea. The Kok-Aral Dam is {{convert|8|mi|km|0|order=flip|abbr=off}} long and has capacity for over 29 cubic kilometres of water to be stored in the North Aral Sea, whilst allowing excess to overflow into the South Aral Sea.

===Aral Sea Basin Programme – 2===
On 6 October 2002, the Heads of States met again to revise the ASBP program.  ASBP-2 was in place from 2003 to 2010. The main purpose of the ASBP-2 was to set up projects that covered a vast amount of environmental, socioeconomic and water management issues. The ASBP-2 was financed by organization such as the UNDP, World Bank, USAID, Asian Development Bank, and the governments of Switzerland, Japan, Finland, Norway and others.  Over 2 billion US Dollars was provided by the IFAS country members to the program.<ref name="auto4">{{cite report |title=Program of actions on providing assistance to the countries of the Aral Sea Basin for the period of 2011-2015 (ASBP-3) |url=http://www.cawater-info.net/library/eng/asbp3_e.pdf |publisher=International Fund for saving the Aral Sea |date=2012}}</ref>

===Aral Sea Basin Programme – 3===
On 28 April 2009, the Head of States came together with the Interstate commission for Water Coordination, Interstate Commission for Sustainable Development and National Experts and donors to develop the ASBP-3.  This Program was in effect from 2011- 2015.  The main purpose of the ASBP-3 was to improve the environmental and socio-economic situation of the Aral Sea Basin. The four program priorities were:<ref name="auto4"/>
*Direction one: Integrated Use of Water Resources 
*Direction two: Environmental protection 
*Direction three: Socio-economic Development 
*Direction four: Improving the institutional and legal instruments

====ASBP-3: Direction One====
Direction One's main purpose is to propose program that focus on addressing transboundary water resources management, establishment of monitoring systems and addressing safety concerns in water facilities. Examples of programs that have been proposed include:<ref name="auto4"/>
*"Developing proposals to optimize the management and use of water resources in Central Asia, taking into account environmental factors, effects of climate change to meet the national interests of the Aral Sea basin."
*"Improving the quality of hydrometeorological services for weather-dependent sectors of the economy of Central Asia."
*"Creating a database and computer models for the management of transboundary water resources."
*"Assisting the countries in reducing the risk of natural disasters, including through the strengthening of regional cooperation, improve disaster preparedness and response."

====ASBP-3: Direction Two====
Directions two's main focus is on addressing the issues related to environmental protection and improvement of the environment. Areas of interest include:<ref name="auto4"/>
*"The environment in the deltas of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya improved."
*"Mountain environments improved."
*"The environment and productivity of pastures improved."
*"A regional information system on the environment established."

====ASBP-3: Direction Three====
Direction three looks to address socio-economic issues by focusing on education and public health, improving unemployment rates, improving water systems, increasing sustainable development and improving living conditions.  The expected outputs are:<ref name="auto4"/>
*"An improved access to safe drinking water."
*"For the rural population: establishment and/or development of private small enterprises, creation of new jobs, and increased labor efficiency."
*"An improvement in the quality of medical services"
*"An improvement in the effectiveness and quality of education in schools and pre-school facilities in rural areas."

====ASBP-3: Direction Four====
Direction Four aims to address issues related to institutional development and the development of policies and strategies that relate to sustainable development and public awareness.  Expected outputs include:<ref name="auto4"/>
*"Conditions for a transparent and mutually beneficial regional dialogue and cooperation, including setting up a sectorial dialogue between governments established."
*"A Prototype of the single information and analysis system for the water sector established."
*"A Communication Strategy for stakeholders and the public established." 
*"Training systems for the water sector and the hydrometeorological services in Central Asia improved."

===North Aral Sea restoration work===
[[File:Dike Kokaral 2021-05-08 Sentinel-2 L2A True color.jpg|thumb|[[Dike Kokaral]]]]
[[File:North Aral Sea 2000 and 2011.gif|thumb|Comparison of the North Aral Sea in 2000 and 2011.]]

Work is being done to restore in part the North Aral Sea. Irrigation works on the Syr Darya have been repaired and improved to increase its water flow, and in October 2003, the Kazakh government announced a plan to build [[Dike Kokaral]], a concrete dam separating the two halves of the Aral Sea. Work on this dam was completed in August 2005; since then, the water level of the North Aral has risen, and its salinity has decreased. {{As of|2006}}, some recovery of sea level has been recorded, sooner than expected.<ref name=reclaim /> "The dam has caused the small Aral's sea level to rise swiftly to 38&nbsp;m (125 ft), from a low of less than 30&nbsp;m (98 ft), with 42&nbsp;m (138 ft) considered the level of viability."<ref>{{cite news |last=Greenberg |first=Ilan |title=As a Sea Rises, So Do Hopes for Fish, Jobs and Riches |work=The New York Times |date=6 April 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/world/asia/as-a-sea-rises-so-do-hopes-for-fish-jobs-and-riches.html |access-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410211417/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/world/asia/as-a-sea-rises-so-do-hopes-for-fish-jobs-and-riches.html |archive-date=10 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Economically significant stocks of fish have returned, and observers who had written off the North Aral Sea as an environmental disaster were surprised by unexpected reports that, in 2006, its returning waters were already partly reviving the fishing industry and producing catches for export as far as Ukraine. The improvements to the fishing industry were largely due to the drop in the average salinity of the sea from 30 grams to 8 grams per liter; this drop in salinity prompted the return of almost 24 freshwater species.<ref name="Chen"/> The restoration also reportedly gave rise to long-absent rain clouds and possible microclimate changes, bringing tentative hope to an agricultural sector swallowed by a regional [[dust storm|dustbowl]], and some expansion of the shrunken sea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Miraculous Catch in Kazakhstan's Northern Aral Sea|url= http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P046045/syr-darya-control-northern-aral-sea-phase-project?lang=en|publisher=The World Bank|date=June 2006|access-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>

The sea, which had receded almost {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of the port-city of [[Aralsk]], is now a mere {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} away. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry stated that "The North Aral Sea's surface increased from {{convert|2,550|km2|sqmi|sp=us}} in 2003 to {{convert|3,300|km2|sqmi|sp=us}} in 2008. The sea's depth increased from 30 meters (98 ft) in 2003 to 42 meters (138 ft) in 2008."<ref name="ENS wire"/> Now, a second dam is to be built based on a World Bank loan to Kazakhstan, with the start of construction initially slated for 2009 and postponed to 2011, to further expand the shrunken Northern Aral,<ref>{{cite web|title=North Aral Sea Recovery|url= https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/7645/north-aral-sea-recovery |work=[[The Earth Observatory]] |publisher=[[NASA]] |year=2007 |access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2014}} eventually reducing the distance to Aralsk to only {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=on}}. Then, it was planned to build a canal spanning the last 6&nbsp;km, to reconnect the withered former port of Aralsk to the sea.<ref name=thetimes>{{cite news |last=Fletcher |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Fletcher |title=The return of the sea |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1975079.ece |work=[[The Times]] |date=23 June 2007 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006102520/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1975079.ece |archive-date=6 October 2008 |access-date=25 June 2007 }}</ref>

On 15 June 2021 the Central Communications Service of Kazakhstan announced that they plan to plant [[Saxaul|saxaul trees]] on one million hectares of the drained bottom of the Aral Sea as part of efforts to stop dust storms on the region. Other efforts include expanding the sea's water mirror.<ref>{{Cite web|first1=Aizada|last1= Arystanbek|date=2021-06-17|title=Aral Sea Restoration Efforts to Include Planting Million-Hectare Saxaul Forest|url=https://astanatimes.com/2021/06/aral-sea-restoration-efforts-to-include-planting-million-hectare-saxaul-forest/|access-date=2021-09-28|website=The Astana Times|language=en}}</ref>

===Future of South Aral Sea===

The South Aral Sea, half of which lies in Uzbekistan, was abandoned to its fate. Most of Uzbekistan's part of the Aral Sea is completely shriveled up. Only excess water from the North Aral Sea is periodically allowed to flow into the largely dried-up South Aral Sea through a [[sluice]] in the dike.<ref>{{cite web|title=Saving a Corner of the Aral Sea|url= http://go.worldbank.org/IE3PGWPVJ0|publisher=[[The World Bank]]|date=1 September 2005|access-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>  Discussions had been held on recreating a channel between the somewhat improved North and the desiccated South, along with uncertain wetland restoration plans throughout the region, but political will is lacking.<ref name=reclaim/> Unlike Kazakhstan, which has partially revived its part of the Aral Sea, Uzbekistan shows no signs of abandoning the [[Amu Darya]] river to irrigate their cotton, and is moving toward oil exploration in the drying South Aral seabed.<ref name=thetimes/>

Attempts to mitigate the effects of [[desertification]] include planting vegetation in the newly exposed seabed; however, intermittent flooding of the eastern basin is likely to prove problematic for any development. Redirecting what little flow there is from the Amu Darya to the western basin may salvage fisheries there while relieving the flooding of the eastern basin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boku.ac.at/iwhw/onlinepublikationen/nachtnebel/EU_INTAS_0511_Rebasows/Files/Summary_report.pdf|title=The rehabilitation of the ecosystem and bioproductivity of the Aral Sea under conditions of water scarcity|date=August 2007|access-date=9 November 2010|archive-date=13 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213010127/http://www.boku.ac.at/iwhw/onlinepublikationen/nachtnebel/EU_INTAS_0511_Rebasows/Files/Summary_report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The reforestation is focused on plants adapted to desert conditions such as ''[[Haloxylon ammodendron]]'', ''[[Ephedra strobilacea]]'', ''[[Salsola]]'' species, and ''[[Tamarix]]'' species. The eventual aim is to plant up to {{convert|200000|ha}} of forest in the Uzbekistan portion. The forest is intended to slow desertification and reduce the impact of sandstorms on nearby communities.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/uzbekistan-plants-a-forest-where-a-sea-once-lay/ |title=Uzbekistan plants a forest where a sea once lay |author=Sonam Lama Hyolmo |work=Mongabay |date=29 May 2024 |access-date=7 June 2024}}</ref>

==Institutional bodies==
The Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia (ICWC) was formed on 18 February 1992 to formally unite [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]] in the hopes of solving environmental, as well as socioeconomic problems in the Aral Sea region. The River Basin Organizations (the BVOs) of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers were institutions called upon by the ICWC to help manage water resources. According to the ICWC,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icwc-aral.uz/strategy.htm|title=Strategies suggested for implementation|publisher=ICWC|access-date=6 January 2013|archive-date=25 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325050428/http://www.icwc-aral.uz/strategy.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> the main objectives of the body are:
* River basin management
* Water allocation without conflict
* Organization of water conservation on transboundary water courses
* Interaction with hydrometeorological services of the countries on flow forecast and account
* Introduction of automation into head structures
* Regular work on ICWC and its bodies' activity advancement
* Interstate agreements preparation
* International relations
* Scientific research
* Training

The {{Ill|International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS)|ru|Международный Фонд спасения Арала}} was developed on 23 March 1993, by the ICWC to raise funds for the projects under Aral Sea Basin programmes. The IFAS was meant to finance programmes to save the sea and improve on environmental issues associated with the basin's drying. This programme has had some success with joint summits of the countries involved and finding funding from the World Bank to implement projects; however, it faces many challenges, such as enforcement and slowing progress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://waterwiki.net/index.php/IFAS_-_International_Fund_for_Saving_the_Aral_Sea|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608003250/http://waterwiki.net/index.php/IFAS_-_International_Fund_for_Saving_the_Aral_Sea|url-status=usurped|archive-date=8 June 2010|title=IFAS|publisher=WaterWiki.net|access-date=4 April 2010}}</ref>

==Vozrozhdeniya Island==
{{Main|Vozrozhdeniya Island}}
[[File:Modis aral.jpg|thumb|"Rebirth" Island joins the mainland in mid-2001.]]

Vozrozhdeniya (Russian for ''rebirth'') Island is a former [[List of islands in lakes|island]] of the Aral Sea or [[South Aral Sea]]. Due to the ongoing shrinkage of the Aral, it became first a [[peninsula]] in mid-2001 and finally part of the [[mainland]].<ref>[[NASA]] Visible Earth - [http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=2036 "Rebirth" Island Joins the Mainland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528155231/http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=2036 |date=28 May 2010 }}, [http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=4343 Aral Sea] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728214310/http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=4343 |date=28 July 2010 }}</ref> Other islands like [[Kokaral]] and [[Barsa-Kelmes]] shared a similar fate. Since the disappearance of the Southeast Aral in 2008, Vozrozhdeniya Island effectively no longer exists as a distinct geographical feature. The area is now shared by [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Uzbekistan]].

In 1948, a top-secret [[Soviet]] [[bioweapon]]s laboratory was established on the island, in the centre of the Aral Sea which is now [[disputed territory]] between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The exact history, functions and current status of this facility are still unclear, but [[bio-agent]]s tested there included ''[[Bacillus anthracis]]'', ''[[Coxiella burnetii]]'', ''[[Francisella tularensis]]'', ''[[Brucella suis]]'', ''[[Rickettsia prowazekii]]'', ''[[Variola major]]'' (smallpox), ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'', [[botulinum toxin]], and [[Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bozheyeva|first1=G.|first2=Y. |last2=Kunakbayev|first3=D. |last3=Yeleukenov|year=1999|title=''Former Soviet Biological Weapons Facilities in Kazakhstan: Past, Present and Future''|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NunnLugar/2015/49.%201999-06-00%20Former%20Soviet%20Biological%20Weapons%20Facilities%20in%20Kazakhstan.Past%20Present%20and%20Future%20(from%20Web).pdf|place=[[Monterey]], [[Calif.]]|publisher=[[Monterey Institute of International Studies]], [[Center for Nonproliferation Studies]]|work=Occasional Paper 1}}</ref>

In 1971, weaponized smallpox from the island reached a nearby ship, which then allowed the virus to spread to the city of [[Aral, Kazakhstan|Aral]]. Ten people there were infected, of whom three died, and a massive vaccination effort involving 50,000 inhabitants ensued (see [[Aral smallpox incident]]). The bioweapons base was abandoned in 1992 following the [[disintegration of the Soviet Union]] the previous year. Scientific expeditions proved this had been a site for production, testing and later dumping of [[biological weapons|pathogenic weapons]]. In 2002, through a project organized by the United States and with Uzbekistan's assistance, 10 [[Bacillus anthracis|anthrax]] burial sites were decontaminated. According to the Kazakh Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Infections, all burial sites of anthrax were decontaminated.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kazakhstan: Vozrozhdeniya Anthrax Burial Sites Destroyed|url=http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/newswires/2002_11_20.html|work= Global Security Newswire|publisher=Nuclear Threat Initiative|date=20 November 2002|access-date=17 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422205925/http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/newswires/2002_11_20.html|archive-date=22 April 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Oil and gas exploration==
[[Ergash Shaismatov]], the deputy [[Prime Minister of Uzbekistan|prime minister of Uzbekistan]], announced on 30 August 2006, that the [[Uzbek government]] and an international consortium consisting of state-run [[Uzbekneftegaz]], [[LUKoil|LUKoil Overseas]], [[Petronas]], [[Korea National Oil Corporation]], and [[China National Petroleum Corporation]] signed a production-sharing agreement to explore and develop oil and gas fields in the Aral Sea, saying, "The Aral Sea is largely unknown, but it holds a lot of promise in terms of finding oil and gas. There is risk, of course, but we believe in the success of this unique project." The consortium was created in September 2005.<ref name=GAS>{{cite news|url=http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10748305&PageNum=0 |title=Uzbekistan, intl consortium ink deal on exploring Aral Sea |publisher=ITAR-Tass |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727223036/http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10748305&PageNum=0 |archive-date=27 July 2010 }}</ref>

As of 1 June 2010, 500,000 cubic meters of gas had been extracted, from 3&nbsp;km down.<ref name=DRILLING>{{cite web|url=http://www.registan.net/index.php/2010/06/09/aral-gas/ |title=Aral Gas |author=Michael Hancock-Parmer |publisher=[[Registan.net]] |date=9 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611212939/http://www.registan.net/index.php/2010/06/09/aral-gas/ |archive-date=11 June 2010 }}</ref>

==Films==
The Aral Sea and its desertification were seen in the 1988 film ''[[The Needle (1988 film)|The Needle]]'' starring [[Viktor Tsoi]] of Kino fame.

The plight of the Aral coast was portrayed in the 1989 film [[Stray Dogs (1989 film)|''Stray Dogs'']] by Soviet director Dmitri Svetozarov.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=5583|title=Psy|publisher=Kino Expert|access-date=18 September 2009}}</ref> The film was shot on location in an actual [[ghost town]] located near the Aral Sea, showing scenes of abandoned buildings and scattered vessels.

In 2000, the MirrorMundo foundation produced a documentary film called ''[[Delta Blues (documentary film)|Delta Blues]]'' about the problems arising from the drying up of the sea.<ref>{{cite web|date=5 November 2008|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0465vGRWhQE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/0465vGRWhQE| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Delta Blues (in a land of cotton)|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=18 July 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In June 2007, [[BBC World]] broadcast a [[documentary]] called ''Back from the Brink?'' made by Borna Alikhani and Guy Creasey, which showed some of the changes in the region since the introduction of the Aklak Dam.

[[Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov]]'s 2012 movie ''[[Waiting for the Sea]]'' deals with the impacts on people's life in a fishing town at the shore of the Aral Sea.

In 2012 Christoph Pasour and Alfred Diebold produced an 85-minute film with the title ''From the Glaciers to the Aral Sea'' which shows the water management system in the Aral Sea basin and in particular the situation around the Aral Sea. The film was first screened at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France, in 2012 and was available on the website waterunites-ca.org<ref>{{cite web |title=Videos - From the Glaciers to the Aral Sea - Water Unites |website=www.waterunites-ca.org |url=http://www.waterunites-ca.org/videos.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023165828/https://www.waterunites-ca.org/videos.html |archivedate=23 October 2019}}</ref> and on Alfred Diebold's YouTube channel ''waterunitesca''.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ctJzg6DiI_I Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190110094129/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJzg6DiI_I&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |title=Water Unites - From the Glaciers to the Aral Sea |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJzg6DiI_I |website=youtube| date=19 January 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In October 2013, [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] produced a [[documentary film]] called ''People of the Lake'', directed by Ensar Altay, describing the current situation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2012/08/2012857324531428.html|title=People of the Lake|author=Al Jazeera World|access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref>

In 2014, director Po Powell shot much of the footage for the [[Pink Floyd]] single "[[Louder than Words (Pink Floyd song)|Louder than Words]]" video near the remains of the Aral Sea on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/pink-floyd-louder-than-words-video-20141110|title=Watch Pink Floyd's Surreal, Sun-Baked 'Louder Than Words' Video|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=4 December 2015|date=10 November 2014}}</ref>

In October 2018, the [[BBC]] produced a programme called ''Fashion's Dirty Secrets'', a large part of which shows the extent of the shrinking Aral and its consequences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5a1a43b5-cbae-4a42-8271-48f53b63bd07|title=Stacey Dooley Investigates: Are your clothes wrecking the planet?|first=Radhika|last=Sanghani|date=8 October 2018|website=BBC Three}}</ref>

In 2024, Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko directed a short film titled ''Aralkum'', which explores the transformation of the Aral Sea into a desert. Published on the Emergence Magazine website, the film portrays the haunting landscape of the [[Aralkum Desert]], which emerged after the Soviet Union diverted the Aral Sea's tributaries for agricultural irrigation. It highlights the environmental consequences of the sea's depletion, such as the desolate ecosystem and the struggles of the remaining inhabitants along the former shoreline.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://emergencemagazine.org/film/aralkum/|title=Aralkum|first=Daniel Asadi|last=Faezi|author2=Mila Zhluktenko|date=9 January 2024|website=Emergence Magazine|access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Lakes|Water}}
*[[List of drying lakes]]
*[[Dead Sea]]
*[[Tulare Lake]] – California's largest lake, drained between 1880 and 1970
*[[Colorado River Delta]] – a similarly damaged ecosystem
*[[Sudd]] – a large marshland in Africa, site of another planned large-scale draining project, the [[Jonglei Canal]]
*''[[Aralosaurus]]''
*[[Draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes|Draining of the Mesopotamian marshes]] – a similar water diversion project in Iraq

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite journal|last1 = Aladin |first1 = Nikolay Vasilevich |last2 = Gontar |first2 = Valentina Ivanovna |last3 = Zhakova |first3 =  Ljubov Vasilevna |last4 = Plotnikov |first4 =  Igor Svetozarovich |last5 = Smurov |first5 = Alexey Olegovich |last6 = Rzymski |first6 = Piotr |last7 = Klimaszyk |first7 = Piotr |title = The zoocenosis of the Aral Sea: six decades of fast-paced change |journal = Environmental Science and Pollution Research International |volume = 26 |pages = 2228–2237 |issue = 3 |date = 27 November 2018 |doi = 10.1007/s11356-018-3807-z| pmid = 30484051 |pmc = 6338704 |bibcode = 2019ESPR...26.2228A }}
*{{cite magazine|last=Bissell|first=Tom|title=Eternal Winter: Lessons of the Aral Sea Disaster|magazine=Harper's|pages=41–56|date=April 2002|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2002/04/0079135|access-date=17 May 2008}}
*{{cite book|last=Bissell|first=Tom|title=Chasing The Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia|location=New York|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-375-72754-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/chasingsea00tomb}}
*{{Citation| last = Borroffka| first = Nikolaus G.O.|contribution = Archaeology and Its Relevance to Climate and Water Level Changes: A Review| editor-last1 = Kostianoy| editor-first1 = Andrey G.| editor-last2 = Kosarev| editor-first2 = Aleksey N.| title = The Aral Sea Environment| pages = 283–303| publisher = Springer-Verlag| place = Heidelberg| year = 2010| contribution-url = https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783540882763}}
*{{cite journal |last1 = Cretaux| first1 = Jean-François |last2 = Letolle |first2 = René |last3 = Bergé-Nguyen |first3 = Muriel|title = History of Aral Sea level variability and current scientific debates| journal = Global and Planetary Change| volume = 110|pages = 99–113| date = 2013|url = https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818113001318|doi = 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.05.006| bibcode = 2013GPC...110...99C |access-date = 8 June 2020 |url-access = subscription}} 
*{{cite news|last=Ellis|first=William S|title=A Soviet Sea Lies Dying|work= [[National Geographic]]|pages=73–93|date=February 1990}}
*{{cite journal |last1 = Ermakhanov| first1 = Zaualkhan K. |last2 = Plotnikov |first2 = Igor S. |last3 = Aladin |first3 = Nikolay V. |last4 = Micklin |first4 = Philip |title = Changes in the Aral Sea ichthyofauna and fishery during the period of ecological crisis| journal = Lakes & Reservoirs: Research and Management| volume = 17| issue = 1| pages = 3–9| date = 28 February 2012|doi = 10.1111/j.1440-1770.2012.00492.x| bibcode = 2012LRRM...17....3E }}
*{{cite book|last=Ferguson|first=Rob|title=The Devil and the Disappearing Sea| location=[[Vancouver]]|publisher=Raincoast Books|year=2003|isbn=1-55192-599-0}}
*[[Ryszard Kapuscinski]], ''Imperium'', Granta, 2019, {{ISBN|9781783785254}}
*{{cite book|last=Kasperson|first=Jeanne|author2=Kasperson, Roger|author3= Turner, B.L| title=The Aral Sea Basin: A Man-Made Environmental Catastrophe|page=92|location= [[Dordrecht]]; Boston|publisher=[[Kluwer Academic Publishers]]|year=1995|isbn=92-808-0848-6}}
*{{cite EB1911 |wstitle = Aral |volume= 2 |last= Kropotkin |first= Peter Alexeivitch |author-link= Peter Kropotkin| pages = 316&ndash;317 }}
*{{cite journal|author1=Bendhun, François |author2=Renard, Philippe |year=2004 |title=Indirect estimation of groundwater inflows into the Aral sea via a coupled water and salt mass balance model |journal=Journal of Marine Systems |url=http://www1.unine.ch/chyn/php/publica_detail.php?id=560 |volume=47 |issue=1–4 |pages=35–50 |access-date=17 May 2008 |doi=10.1016/j.jmarsys.2003.12.007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214062216/http://www1.unine.ch/chyn/php/publica_detail.php?id=560 |archive-date=14 February 2008 |url-access=subscription }}
*{{cite journal|last=Micklin|first=Philip|title=The Aral Sea Disaster|journal= Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences|volume=35|pages=47–72|issue=4|year=2007|doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.35.031306.140120|bibcode=2007AREPS..35...47M}}
*{{cite journal|author1=Sirjacobs, Damien |author2=Grégoire, Marilaure |author3=Delhez, Eric |author4=Nihoul, JCJ |year=2004|title=Influence of the Aral Sea negative water balance on its seasonal circulation patterns: use of a 3D hydrodynamic model|journal=Journal of Marine Systems|volume=47|issue=1–4|pages=51–66|doi=10.1016/j.jmarsys.2003.12.008|hdl=2268/2793 |bibcode=2004JMS....47...51S }}
*{{cite journal |last1 = Sun| first1 = Fangdi |last2 = Ma |first2 = Ronghua|title = Hydrologic changes of Aral Sea: A reveal by the combination of radar altimeter data and optical images| journal = Annals of GIS| volume = 25| issue = 3| pages = 247–261| date = 14 June 2019|doi = 10.1080/19475683.2019.1626909| bibcode = 2019AnGIS..25..247S |doi-access = free}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.aralsea.org/index.html Aral Sea Foundation]
*[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/aral_sea.php Aral Sea from Space] (time lapse)

{{sister bar|auto=1}}
{{Regions of the world}}
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[[Category:Aral Sea| ]]
[[Category:Ancient lakes]]
[[Category:Endorheic lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters in Asia]]
[[Category:Geography of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Shrunken lakes]]
[[Category:Former lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Lakes of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Lakes of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Saline lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border]]
[[Category:International lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:IUCN Red List of Ecosystems]]