340 Wk3 Response2

The desertification of the Aral Sea is labeled as the worst human driven ecological disaster of its kind. Originally in the 1960’s, The Aral sea was approximately 90% larger than it is today, and that change was directly linked to the Rice and Cotton cash crops in the region as well as Soviet Union governmental decisions to provide an area of independence for the west. In a documentary entitled ” The Collapse of the Aral Sea Ecosystem,” These effects are explained in details from crop failure, health deterioration and poverty from a once rich and fertile land, (Bowie, 2000). According to this film, The destabilization of this ecosystem began with the overuse of cotton and rice farms. Constant dams and Levy’s to supply water onto these farm lands for irrigation eventually choked the source of water to deteriorate. Salt tables in the water increased dramatically as the sea decreased in size, and area that was covered in water started to subside. The climate change and winds in the area would start to carry the sand up which contained pesticides and salt into the crop areas damaging them significantly. Also in tandem, the water contained too much salt to provide reasonable water with the correct PH and nutrients to supply these crops.  Socially, the Aral Sea was a huge fishing industry at one point, and when the sea salinity began to change and the water started to reside, so did the fish population. This source of income had to be abandoned by a lot of fisherman because there no longer was any money in it. This dropped the population significantly with citizens leaving to find work elsewhere, and that cripples things further with tightening the noose around the economy. Health problems arose as well and actually doubled with cases of Tuberculosis and other communicable diseases. Some areas the Tuberculosis actually mutated to be able to fight off treatment of antibiotics.