Aral Sea
Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 07:13 CDT Download full size image
Every year the Aral Sea shrinks a little more due to 40 years of agricultural policies that let farmers in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan divert water from the Amy Darya and Syr Darya rivers. The Sea is now so shallow that sediment appears almost ever-present, making the waters look milky tan and green. In addition to being shallow, the waters are highly polluted from increased salinity (it is nearly 2.5 times as salty as the ocean) and human activities. Further complicating the problem are the now extensive salt beds surrounding the Sea; because there is no vegetation to hold the salt down, winds pick up it and dust sediment, creating dust storms that have negative effects on the residents of the region and the local climate.
The peninsula separating the two halves of the Sea was an island as early as 1996, and in 1960 was completely submerged. Technically a lake and not a sea, it was once the world's fourth largest. Today, it is eighth, at best. This is a true-color Terra MODIS image from April 8, 2005.
More Images

Swirls of Rock in Candor Chasma.This image shows spectacular layers exposed on the bottom of Candor Chasma, which is a large canyon ...

Dusty Wedge.The ghostly features in Saturn's B ring called spokes are making an appearance again as the Cassini ...
Recent Images
- Dusty Wedge
- Swirls of Rock in Candor Chasma
- Plume from Soufriere Hills Volcano
- Asteroid 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead Star
- Region East of Nectaris Fossae
- Coal Ash Spill, Tennessee
- Lonely Galaxy
- Knobs, Bright Deposits, and Inverted Channels in Eberswalde Crater
- Dust storm, Turkmenistan, Central Asia
Latest Thoughts
Center of Our Galaxy Revealed by Hubble
Keeping Resolutions: Experts Sound Off
Sleep Deprivation: What it Does to the Body
The Dangers of Third Hand Smoke
Google Tracks Flu Through Internet Searches
Many Americans Have Hidden Sleep Disorders













RSS Feeds