Where is aral lake

The construction of the dam not only returned hope to people for better living conditions, but also had great practical importance. Participate Sponsor. Search for:. The Catastrophe of the Aral Sea. Join the Disruptive Technology Challenge. Since By He now works in a hotel in Nukus, the capital of the republic of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan that encompasses Moynaq. A former fish canning factory in Moynaq, previously a thriving fishing hub, has fallen into ruin Credit: Taylor Weidman.

With their fisheries decimated, the communities these two men are part of at opposite ends of the sea faced similar dire fates in the s. But more than two decades on, their paths have diverged. Today, the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan has been revived, with water and economy returning to Aralsk. But the South Aral Sea in Uzbekistan is almost completely desiccated, and its residents are choking on the air.

At the other side of the same sea as Moynaq, the Kazakh city of Aralsk has undergone a very different fate Credit: Taylor Weidman. At more than 67, sq km 26, sq miles , the Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Water levels dropped and the once abundant populations of bream, carp and other freshwater fish dwindled with them.

Today, the sea is a 10th of its original size and has almost split in two. Mimicking the shape of a splintered number eight, the North Aral Sea — the top half of the body of water — lies in Kazakhstan. The South Aral Sea, which consist of a strip of water in the west and a dried-out basin in the east, sits in Uzbekistan. In the s, both bodies of water seemed headed for similar outcomes. This included constructing a 12km-long 7.

The return of the North Aral Sea has fuelled a revival of the fishing industry in Aralsk. In , the annual fish catch totaled 1, tons, which comprised a majority of flounder — a saltwater species that the Kazakhs dislike. By , the Aralsk Fish Inspection Unit recorded 7, tons of fish as freshwater species have returned, including pike-perch — which bring in a hefty price for local fishermen — breams, asp, and catfish. For Aldanbek Kerinov, the return of the fisheries in the North Aral Sea has allowed him to change careers.

Now the year-old works with his two brothers out on the lake. In sub-zero weather in February, they retrieved about 20kg 44lb of pike-perch from their nets submerged under the frozen surface of the Aral Sea. We prefer to catch even just one pike perch instead of driving a taxi.

Satellite images taken by NASA in August revealed that for the first time in modern history the eastern basin of the Aral Sea had completely dried up. The eastern basin is now called the Aralkum Desert. In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in ; in , the water level in this lake had risen by 12 m compared to Salinity has dropped, and fish are again found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable.

The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 m as of The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters".