Why Russia Destroyed the World's 4th Biggest Lake - RealLifeLore

[TexasTowelie]

Discussion about the diversion of water from the rivers traversing Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan which feed into the Aral Sea as a measure to support the cotton industry along with the social and geopolitical effects throughout central Asia.

[John1956PA]

1. Thanks for posting.

I have posted on other sites about this sad loss of a once majestic lake.

[The Jungle 1]

2. Water is the new oil and is a big part of the Ukraine war.

There is a canal in Ukraine that fed Crimea with water. It provided the farms and people with water.
Ukraine shut down the canal in 2014 soon after the russian annexation of Crimea. The flow of water was restored in March 2022 during the 2022 russian invasion of Ukraine. A 2015 study found that the canal had been providing 85% of Crimea's water prior to the canal's 2014 shutdown.
Ukraine had built a dam in the canal that provided the water to Crimea after russia annexed Crimea . Blowing up the dam and restarting the flow of water toward Crimea was one of Russia's first acts of the war.

We will fight over water as our climate changes. We already are.

[2naSalit]

3. This is important!

This illustrates, in a small scale, just how large scale this is and how quickly it happens.

Geopolitically, it would be great if someone somehow can convince these three countries to form a coalition to preserve their resources so they don't end up fighting over them.

[NullTuples]

4. California once had the second-largest freshwater lake entirely in the United States.

It was the oldest lake in the US, too.

It was drained for farmland, somewhat like how Brazil does slash-and-burn with the Amazon, except we did it quicker.

But regarding Russia...and so much of human political history...

Humans are apes & seem to comprise of a mix of more competitive individuals & more cooperative ones. Unfortunately, the very most competitive ones attain and hold on to power, as is their nature. They disdain cooperation if they don't come out on top.

They are not good for our species, nor the planet as a whole.

[Uncle Joe]

5. The Soviet Union salted itself

Thanks for the thread TexasTowelie

[burrowowl]

6. The hubris of Homo sapiens sapiens!

[dalton99a]

7. Kick