cover of episode The Aral Sea has nearly disappeared. What about the water that remains?

The Aral Sea has nearly disappeared. What about the water that remains?

2024/9/22
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A
Aisulu
B
Bahijan Habibulayef
R
Rahat Krumenbaev
V
Valerie Kipnis
旁
旁白
知名游戏《文明VII》的开场动画预告片旁白。
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旁白：咸海曾经是中亚重要的水资源，但由于苏联时期大规模引水灌溉，导致咸海萎缩，生态系统遭到破坏，对当地居民生活造成严重影响。联合国环境规划署称其为20世纪最严重的灾难之一。 Valerie Kipnis：咸海分裂成南北两部分，南咸海几乎完全干涸，成为一片沙漠，莫伊纳克港口城市衰败，环境污染严重。北咸海由于大坝的修建，水位有所回升，但仍面临风险。阿姆河和锡尔河是咸海的主要水源，但沿途被大量抽取用于灌溉，特别是棉花种植。 Rahat Krumenbaev：沙俄时期，人们普遍认为咸海应该被牺牲，以促进中亚的经济发展，苏联时期这种做法被进一步扩大。 Yusup Kamalov：乌兹别克斯坦的灌溉系统效率低下，水资源浪费严重，农民缺乏土地所有权和议价能力，导致他们不重视节约用水。 Khalif：由于气候变化和土地盐碱化，棉花产量逐年下降，农民生活艰难。 Bahijan Habibulayef：在沙漠中建立实验花园，种植耐旱植物，并向农民传授节水种植技术，致力于帮助农民适应未来的水资源短缺。 Aisulu：阿姆河水位下降，对当地居民生活造成影响，许多人梦想移民到国外。 旁白：咸海的消失是人为造成的，始于沙俄时期，延续至今，对中亚地区的环境和社会经济造成深远的影响。 Valerie Kipnis：乌兹别克斯坦政府虽然承认农业用水效率低下，并采取了一些措施，但其对棉花种植的依赖与节水目标相矛盾，改变的责任落在了农民身上。哈萨克斯坦政府在北咸海修建的大坝取得了一定的成效，但大坝的维护和锡尔河水资源的减少仍然是挑战。 Rahat Krumenbaev：沙俄和苏联时期的政策导致了咸海的萎缩，这反映了当时对经济发展的优先考虑。 Yusup Kamalov：乌兹别克斯坦的农业生产模式和政府政策导致了水资源的浪费和农民的困境。 Khalif：气候变化和土地盐碱化加剧了水资源短缺对农民的影响。 Bahijan Habibulayef：通过实验和技术推广，可以帮助农民适应水资源短缺的环境，提高农业生产效率。 Aisulu：咸海的消失和阿姆河水位的下降对当地居民的生活和未来造成了深远的影响，许多人选择离开家园。

Deep Dive

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The Aral Sea, once one of the world's largest lakes, has shrunk to about 10% of its original size due to water diversion for agriculture. This ecological disaster has had severe consequences for the region, including the creation of the Aralkum Desert and the decline of fishing communities.
  • The Aral Sea has shrunk to 10% of its original size.
  • Water diversion for agriculture is the primary cause.
  • The Aralkum Desert formed as the sea dried up.
  • Fishing communities have been devastated.

Shownotes Transcript

In Central Asia, the world's youngest desert occupies a basin that once held a vast saline lake. The Aral Sea. Up until the 1960s, the sea spanned more than 26 thousand square miles across two countries. It supported thriving fishing communities along its shores. But then, in the name of progress and development, much of the river water that fed the sea was diverted for agriculture. Now the Aral Sea has all but disappeared, shrunk to about tenth of its original size. The UN Environment Programme has called the Aral Sea's destruction quote "one of the most staggering disasters of the 20th century." On this episode of The Sunday Story, Above The Fray Fellow Valerie Kipnis takes us to the Aral Sea to try to understand what went wrong and whether anything can be done to save the little water that's left.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)