World of Change: the Shrinking Aral Sea

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Published 2018-12-05

The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world. Fed primarily by snowmelt and precipitation flowing down from faraway mountains, it was a temperate oasis in an arid region. But in the 1960s, the Soviet Union diverted two major rivers to irrigate farmland, cutting off the inland sea from its source. The Aral Sea has been slowly disappearing ever since. These images show how the Aral Sea and its surrounding landscape has changed over the past few decades.

For more details about these images, read the full stories here:

+ World of Change: Padma River
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/aral_sea…

+ The Aral Sea, Before the Streams Ran Dry
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/77193/the-aral-se…

+North Aral Sea Recovery
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/7645/north-aral-s…

+The Aral Sea Loses Its Eastern Lobe
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/84437/the-aral-se…

+New Water in the Aral Sea
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/90857/new-water-i…

+Shrinking Aral Sea
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010800/a010862/inde…

Producer: Kasha Patel
Images by: Jesse Allen, Lauren Dauphin, Robert Simmon, and Joshua Stevens,
Music: www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music