Humans drained the Aral Sea once before — but there are no free refills this time around

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/humans-drained-the-aral-sea-once-before-but-there-are-no-free-refills-this-time-around/



Humans drained the Aral Sea once before — but there are no free refills this time around
The Conversation
04 Oct 2014

The Aral Sea has reached a new low, literally and figuratively; new satellite images from NASA show that, for the first time in its recorded history, the largest basin has completely dried up.

However, the Aral Sea has an interesting history – and as recently as 600-700 years ago it was as small, if not smaller, than today. The Aral recovered from that setback to become the world’s fourth largest lake, but things might not be so easy this time round. Today, more people than ever rely on irrigation from rivers that should instead flow into the sea, and the impact of irrigation is compounded by another new factor: climate change.

Sandwiched between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea is actually a lake, albeit a salty, terminal one. It is salty because evaporation of water from the lake surface is greater than the amount of water being replenishing through rivers flowing in. It is terminal because there is no outflowing river. This makes the Aral Sea very sensitive to variations in its water balance caused either by climate or by humans.




The Aral in August 2000, already less than half its 1960 size.


Indeed, the sea has long been a cause celebre in the world of environmental catastrophes, an exemplar of the devastating harm that ill thought-out economic policies can have on the environment. Intensive irrigation of cotton plantations in the deserts of the western Soviet Union prevented water reaching the Aral Sea, leading to the drastically low levels we see today. This in turn meant the highly-salty waters killed off many plants and animals.

[daleanime]

1. kick, kick, kick.....

[BlancheSplanchnik]

2. overpopulation, overpopulation, overpopulation.

Today, more people than ever rely on irrigation from rivers that should instead flow into the sea, and the impact of irrigation is compounded by another new factor: climate change.

If the exponentially rising numbers and devastating impacts were happening with any other species, we'd have taken measures to control it a long time ago.

[mopinko]

3. a great example of how things that seem green arent.

i think a lot of people buy cotton because it is a "natural" fiber.
but it is a very, very, water intensive, and pesticide intensive crop.
yeah, egyptian cotton makes luscious linens. i plead guilty to the weakness. they have become quite affordable.

but, yeah, this.....

[unhappycamper]

4. Pirate Television has one hour lectures on various subjects.

If you get a chance, watch the show on hemp.

Hemp will ameliorate a lot of our water problems. It uses less water, grows faster and appears more versatile than cotton.

[mopinko]

5. hemp is the future.

i have a couple hemp items, and that shit wears like iron.

i have a serious preference for cotton, but i almost never buy new clothes. there are so many thrift stores and second hand store in chicago, i have no reason to buy new.

i wonder how much more shit i could get into if i grew a little hemp on my farm......