U.N. chief shocked by shrinking lake

[IDemo]

'Clearly one of the worst disasters,' he says of Aral Sea

By JIM HEINTZ
updated 10:00 a.m. MT, Sun., April 4, 2010

NUKUS, Uzbekistan - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called the drying up of the Aral Sea one of the planet's most shocking disasters and urged Central Asian leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem.

Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the sea has shrunk by 90 percent since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region.

The shrunken sea has ruined the once-robust fishing economy and left fishing trawlers stranded in sandy wastelands, leaning over as if they dropped from the air. The sea's evaporation has left layers of highly salted sand, which winds can carry as far away as Scandinavia and Japan, and which plague local people with health troubles.

Ban toured the sea by helicopter as part of a visit to the five countries of former Soviet Central Asia. His trip included a touchdown in Muynak, Uzbekistan, a town once on the shore where a pier stretches eerily over gray desert and camels stand near the hulks of stranded ships.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36167170/ns/world_news-world_environment/

[baldguy]

1. .

[Delphinus]

9. Thank you for the video timeline

showing it shrinking. This is really amazing - but not in a good way!

[hunter]

2. Many giant water diversion projects of the twentieth century need to be undone.

I wonder if human civilization has got what it takes to make a better world.

[pscot]

3. He's just finding out about this?

He needs to get out more.

[Dead_Parrot]

5. I suspect seeing it personally is a bit of an eye-opener. nt

[Canuckistanian]

7. Yeah, really. I remember reading about this 20 years ago

And all because of the cotton growing scheme that was started by Stalin.

[pscot]

8. The current flurry of interest

is probably because a modest effort at restoration is underway. But dem cottonfields still need water and very little is reaching the Aral. This is not unique to the Aral Sea. There are other basins in Central Asia that are drying up, partly as a result of water diversion schemes and partly because the glacial melt is slowing. It's happening in western China as well. The future is just filled with exciting possibilities.

[RC]

4. Another symptom of too many people for this planet to support.

We are an arrogant species. We think the rules that govern life here do not apply to us
At the rate we are going, we will learn too late that they do.
RC

[Delphinus]

10. We

*ARE* an arrogant species, aren't we? I wonder if we'll ever learn.

[Beringia]

6. thanks for posting n/t

[happyslug]

11. You did NOT mention the diversion plans to solve this problem

The Russians are reviving an old Soviet idea of diverting the Volga and Ob Rivers to the Aral Sea:

http://www.ecoworld.com/waters/aral-sea.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea

This would reverse the problem of the Aral Sea and maybe even delay the affect of Global Warming in the Arctic.