Rest of the article
The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest body of fresh water, covering an area the size of Ireland. But then the nations around it became
part of the Soviet Union. With their passion for planned economics and giant, nature-reversing projects, the communists diverted the rivers that fed
the inland sea and used them to irrigate vast cotton fields. The result: The Aral shrank by 90 percent to a string of isolated stretches of
water.
It was crazy to see ships, stuck atop sand dunes in a desert. But the Aral is once again becoming the big body of water it once was. A lesson learned,
I hope.
|
Video
This is a video that shows the ships just scattered around. It's amazing how expansive the desert is, and to be there standing, thinking "This use
to be a sea!".
It's good to hear the people now have their sea coming back, and their main source of income (fishing) is growing again. It will still take mother
nature longer to heal the scars than it did for us to cause the scar.
|
