Why Russia Destroyed the World's 4th Biggest Lake

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

Special thanks to Harry Shimmin via ViralHog

[SatyamKumar-vdxm]

Here's a big cobra effect. When Mao Zedong's government won the Chinese Civil War, he wanted people to kill sparrows because they were eating all the crops. They killed the sparrows, but they didn't know that the sparrows also killed the bugs which were also eating the crops. So the crops actually were eaten faster and the bug population increased. Mao more like LMao.

[thenaiam]

You are not joking about the Aralkum desert being post-apocalyptic. Having the secret bioweapons lab in the middle of a former lake-now toxic desert sounds straight out of Fallout.

[temurbekbektashev]

As a person who lives in Uzbekistan, I am very happy and grateful that you are raising such an important topic, even though you are on the other side of the planet. Maybe by raising awareness among world population will help solve this problem. Actually, the UN and other organizations are dealing with it for the past 20-30 years, but there is no visible result. My guess is a high level of corruption in our country, unfortunately. Anyway, I do hope this problem will be solved peacefully, without any invasions and wars. Thanks again!

[prabhatsourya]

I have read somewhere that the Aral Sea dam had done a lot to help the Northern half of the Aral Sea. Apparently, after the completion of the dam in the northern Aral Sea, the salinity of the water had dropped from 30gpl to 8 gpl, which has led to the fish returning to the area in commercially viable quantities. Also, in the northern Aral region, the dam and the associated water rise has apparently given rise to rain clouds and moderate climates, reducing the climate disaster that was unfolding in that region.

I would appreciate it if someone would give me an idea about what is actually going on in the Northern Aral Sea.

[silvestervanmeijgaarden]

I've been reading about this stuff since I'm 11 and it still breaks my heart to see this beautiful Central-Asian pearl in the middle of the dessert having been destroyed by human actions....

[MasterHero]

One thing worth mentioning is that Uzbekistan has recently started planting bushes and shrubs across the former lakebed to try and anchor the dust that's being blown up from it. Whether or not that actually stops the dust storms is yet to be seen. Personally I'd like to see them fix the dam inefficiencies to get the water flowing, but they still have a high level of corruption that's slowing them down.

[terramater]

In fact, many of the world's endorheic (=terminal) lakes just like the Aral Sea are drying up currently. While we were researching this phenomenon for a new video, we found out that there is one in the USA that stands out: the Great Salt Lake. That's bc. the soil beneath is also toxic and if the US don't learn from Aral's history they could face a disaster comparable to the scale of Aral. With the difference that there's a major urban center right next to it: Salt Lake City.

[KikoAnimates]

As someone who's from Kazakhstan. I've got no words. I feel bad for Aral sea. And the thing what's more horrible, Kaspi sea is getting worser too. Losing water. I wish we could save it. We can't lose it.

Though, I don't understand why this guy is mentioning Russia, instead of USSR.

[kaceywagner]

California used to have Tulare lake, which was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It was drained in the 1800’s by people diverting the tributaries for agriculture and municipal water supplies. Tulare lake lost most of its water through evaporation, which was blown towards the mountains to replenish the snowpacks, then melted and refilled the lake. Would love a video on Tulare Lake

[Ruben_Theelen]

Very interesting video. I had heard of the Aral sea before, but had no idea how dangerous that situation could potentially become. your channel is very interesting, keep it up.

[austinwilkerson]

I visited Uzbekistan last year and made a special point to trek out west to the Aral Sea (not an easy feat, anymore). It's strange to walk through a desert littered with shells and skeletal, rusted ships. I wanted to visit not only to see the place with my own eyes, but also to both get a sense of what's to come, and to tell my grandchildren about this lake that will be long gone by the time they learn about it.

Also, it was strange to see the tourism infrastructure built up around many of the "fishing villages" that now sit in the middle of the desert. Lots of bright colors and restaurants, and yet everyone walks around somberly-- justifiably so.

[Dara-ihjq]

We fight war is over oil now, but in the future, we will be fighting wars over clean fresh water

[eugene.]

Aral sea is not located in Russia. Yes, the process of drying of Aral started in Soviet era, but the one ended 32 years ago and Uzbekistan and Tajikistan did nothing to change the situation and the problem got much worse since the collapse of the Soviet union

[HoennMaster]

I’ve been fascinated by the story of the Aral Sea for a few years now. It’s such a tragic thing and sadly humanity never learns. This is already happening with multiple large lakes around the world, including here in the United States with places like Lake Mead and the Great Salt Lake.

[edwallace]

Well done. I was a Soviet Studies student in the 1980's. I remember learning of the massive increase in cotton production. The discussion of the potential for conflict at the end of the video is eye-opening.

[JaceDanielFilms]

I love learning about central asia, as it's such an obscure part of the world that people forget about. Maybe because it's so landlocked, but that makes it a true interior world

[oatlord]

Man. Humans have done some nefarious stuff for cotton over the years.

[TheCrimsonAtom]

I first noticed it when I played Crusader kings when I saw a giant lake near the Caspian sea thinking to myself "What is that? I can't even find it on Google maps" and then I heard how it died in recent times, truely sad.

[pdoylemi]

I almost didn't watch this because I knew a lot about the death of the Aral sea - but this taught me a LOT more! Thanks. As late as the 1990's Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada were calling on the federal government to look into diverting water from Lake Michigan to them, for much the same reasons - expanding their agriculture (and golfing). It was being taken so seriously that our Governor (MI) and the Governor of Illinois both threatened to use the National Guard to block any such project. Canada also had huge objections, because all the Great Lakes are connected. You cannot drain Lake Michigan without draining the rest.

[dmitryseverinov]

The Aral Sea is not Russia, it is Kazakhstan, Tajikistan. The problem is that the agriculture of the Central Asian countries intensively uses two large rivers flowing into the Aral Sea.