The Shrinking Aral Sea

1. The Shrinking Aral Sea

2. Cause of the Aral Sea crisis • The Aral sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world • It was fed by two rivers, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya

3. Cause of the Aral Sea crisis • The Aral sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world • It was fed by two rivers, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya • In the 1950’s, Soviet officials began diverting water from the river in order to plant cotton • Cotton was very important for the Soviet economy • Cotton requires a warm climate and lots of water

4. Cause of the Aral Sea crisis • The Aral sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world • It was fed by two rivers, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya • In the 1950’s, Soviet officials began diverting water from the river in order to plant cotton • Cotton was very important for the Soviet economy • Cotton requires a warm climate and lots of water • Because the rivers no longer reach the Aral Sea, it has shrunk to 10 percent its original size

5. Researching Effects • Use the textbook and the following links to research the effects of the shrinking Aral Sea and create a table like the one below • http://www.historyandtheheadlines.abc-clio.com/ContentPages/ContentPage.aspx?entryId=1299849&currentSection=1296470&productid=21 • http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31983/Aral-Sea • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/678898.stm

6. Saving the Aral Sea • The only way for the Aral Sea to recover would be to stop diverting water from the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. The only way to do this without driving the entire region into deep poverty and starvation is with international assistance. • Create a poster that includes some of the effects of the shrinking Aral Sea to convince people to support recovery programs • Should contain both images and text