Toxic dust storms, anti-government protests, the B次元官网网址� for generations, none of it has deterred Nafisa Bayniyazova and her family from making a living growing melons, pumpkins and tomatoes on farms around the Aral Sea.
Bayniyazova, 50, has spent most of her life near Muynak, in northwestern Uzbekistan, tending the land. Farm life was sometimes difficult but generally reliable and productive. Even while political upheaval from transformed the world around them, the familyB次元官网网址檚 farmland yielded crops, with water steadily flowing through canals coming from the Aral and surrounding rivers.
Now, Bayniyazova and other residents say theyB次元官网网址檙e facing a catastrophe they canB次元官网网址檛 beat: , which is accelerating the decades-long demise of the Aral, once the lifeblood for the thousands living around it.
The Aral has nearly disappeared. Decades ago, deep blue and filled with fish, it was one of the worldB次元官网网址檚 largest inland bodies of water. ItB次元官网网址檚 shrunk to less than a quarter of its former size.
Much of its early demise is due to human engineering and agricultural projects gone awry, now paired with climate change. Summers are hotter and longer; winters, shorter and bitterly cold. Water is harder to find, experts and residents like Bayniyazova say, with salinity too high for plants to properly grow.
B次元官网网址淓veryone goes further in search of water,B次元官网网址� Bayniyazova said. B次元官网网址淲ithout water, thereB次元官网网址檚 no life.B次元官网网址�
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HISTORY AND DEMISE
For decades, the Aral B次元官网网址� fed by rivers relying heavily on , and intersecting the landlocked countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan B次元官网网址� held meters-long fish, caught and shipped across the Soviet Union.
The region prospered, and thousands of migrants from across Asia and Europe moved to the AralB次元官网网址檚 shores, for jobs popping up everywhere from canning factories to luxury vacation resorts.
Today, the few remaining towns sit quiet along the former seabed of the Aral B次元官网网址� technically classified as a lake, due to its lack of a direct outlet to the ocean, though residents and officials call it a sea. Dust storms whip through, and rusted ships sit in the desert.
In the 1920s, the Soviet government began to drain the sea for irrigation of cotton and other cash crops. By the 1960s, it shrunk by half; those crops thrived. By 1987, the AralB次元官网网址檚 level was so low it split into two bodies of water: the northern and southern seas, in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, respectively.
The United Nations Development Program calls the destruction of the Aral Sea B次元官网网址渢he most staggering disaster of the 20th century.B次元官网网址� It points to the AralB次元官网网址檚 demise as the cause of land degradation and desertification, drinking water shortages, malnutrition, and deteriorating health conditions.
National governments, international aid organizations and local groups have tried B次元官网网址� with varying degrees of effort and success B次元官网网址攖o save the sea. Efforts range from planting bushes for slowing the encroaching dunes to building multimillion-dollar dams.
But experts say climate change has only accelerated the death of the Aral, and will continue to exacerbate residentsB次元官网网址� suffering.
B次元官网网址淥NLY US LOCALSB次元官网网址�
Without the moderating influence of a large body of water to regulate the climate, dust storms began to blow through towns. They whipped toxic chemicals from a shuttered Soviet weapons testing facility and fertilizer from farms into the lungs and eyes of residents, contributing to increased rates of respiratory diseases and cancer, according to the U.N.
Fierce winds caused dunes to swallow entire towns, and abandoned buildings filled with sand. Residents fled. A dozen fish species went extinct, and businesses shuttered.
Madi Zhasekenov, 64, said he watched as his townB次元官网网址檚 once-diverse population dwindled.
B次元官网网址淭he fish factories closed, the ships were stranded in the harbor, and the workers all left,B次元官网网址� said Zhasekenov, former director of the Aral Sea Fisherman Museum in Aralsk, Kazakhstan. B次元官网网址淚t became only us locals.B次元官网网址�
Dust storms, , and wind erosion are destroying the glaciers the seaB次元官网网址檚 rivers rely on, . The remaining water is getting saltier and evaporating faster.
Melting ice and changing river flows may further destabilize drinking water supply and food security, the report warns, and hydropower plants could suffer.
During a recent summer in the small desert village of Tastubek, Kazakhstan, farmer Akerke Molzhigitova, 33, watched as the grass her horses fed on dried up from extreme heat. To try and save them B次元官网网址� a major source of income and food B次元官网网址� she moved them 200 kilometers (125 miles) away.
Still, dozens died. Her neighbors, fearing the same fate, sold their animals.
CONTRAST ALONG THE ARAL
Near Sudochye Lake in Uzbekistan, Adilbay and his friends fish in the AralB次元官网网址檚 remaining water pockets. Their catch is tiny.
He holds his arms wide, the size of fish from years ago. B次元官网网址淣ow there is nothing,B次元官网网址� said Adilbay, 62, who goes by only one name.
As the water disappeared, a nearby fish processing warehouse closed. AdilbayB次元官网网址檚 friends and relatives moved to Kazakhstan, seeking new jobs.
There, fisherman Serzhan Seitbenbetov, 36, and others find success. Sitting in a boat rocking in gentle waves, he pulled his net. In an hour, he hauled in a hundred fish, some 2 meters (6.5 feet) long. HeB次元官网网址檒l make 5000 Kazakhstani Tenge ($10.50), he said B次元官网网址� five times his previous daily pay as a taxi driver in a neighboring city.
B次元官网网址淣ow all the villagers make good money being fishermen,B次元官网网址� he said.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 the result of an $86 million dike project led by Kazakhstan, with assistance from the World Bank, completed in 2005.
Known as the Kokaral Dam, the dike cuts across a narrow stretch of the sea, conserving and gathering water from the Syr Darya River. The dike surpassed expectations, leading to an increase of over 10 feet in water levels after seven months.
That helped restore local fisheries and affected the microclimate, causing an increase in clouds and rainstorms, according to the World Bank. Population grew.
But it couldnB次元官网网址檛 replicate life before the water started drying up, said Sarah Cameron, an associate professor at the University of Maryland whoB次元官网网址檚 writing a book about the Aral.
B次元官网网址淚t does not support the same amount of people and the fishing industry in the same way,B次元官网网址� Cameron said.
And building the dike in Kazakhstan cut off the south part of the sea in Uzbekistan from its crucial water source.
Uzbekistan has been less successful in restoration efforts. The government hasnB次元官网网址檛 undertaken large projects like the Kokaral. Instead, the country planted saxaul trees and other drought-resistant plants to help prevent erosion and slow dust storms.
Agriculture, especially the export of water-intensive cotton, continued to be a main staple of the economy. Millions of people worked B次元官网网址� for years in forced-labor campaigns B次元官网网址� in the cotton-picking industry, which further sapped water resources.
The discovery of oil and natural gas in the AralB次元官网网址檚 former seabed brought the building of gas production facilities B次元官网网址� and shows Uzbekistan has little interest in restoration, experts said.
B次元官网网址淲hile there has been some restoration,B次元官网网址� said Kate Shields, assistant professor in environmental studies at Rhodes College, B次元官网网址渢here was a sort of an acceptance that B次元官网网址� the sea was not coming back.B次元官网网址�
Government officials from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan didnB次元官网网址檛 respond to questions emailed by AP about restoration efforts, water scarcity and the effects of climate change.
B次元官网网址淏ARELY SURVIVINGB次元官网网址�
On her Uzbekistan farm, BayniyazovaB次元官网网址檚 family has dug an earthen well, hoping to hold on to the precious little water thatB次元官网网址檚 left.
B次元官网网址淚f there is no water, it will be very difficult for people to live,B次元官网网址� Bayniyazova said. B次元官网网址淣ow people are barely surviving.B次元官网网址�
She doesnB次元官网网址檛 plan to leave her farm yet but knows more hardships are likely ahead. Her family will dig deeper wells, see smaller harvests. TheyB次元官网网址檒l do whatever it takes to hang on to the only life theyB次元官网网址檝e known.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l do everything we can,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淏ecause what else can we do?B次元官网网址�
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