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The Aral Sea in 1960 was a huge brackish water lake (4th in the world in surface area) lying amidst the deserts of Central Asia. The sea supported a major fishery and functioned as a key regional transportation route. Since 1960, the Aral has undergone rapid desiccation and salinization, overwhelmingly the result of unsustainable expansion of irrig...
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... Bu muammolarni keltirib chiqishga sabab bo'layotgan omillardan biri bu Orol dengizining qurishi ekanligini bir qator olimlarimiz ta'kidlab o'tishgan. Yana ba'zi tadqiqotlarda, daryo oqimining qisqarishi asosan sug'orish bilan bog'liq bo'lishi natijasida Orol dengizi yuzasida sezilarli o'zgarishlar yuz bergan [6,9,11,12,15]. O'sha davrlarda daryolarning suvidan qo'shni davlatlarning foydalanishiga qaraganda, Amudaryo va Sirdaryo suvidan Oʻzbekiston 52%, Turkmaniston 20%, Tojikiston 11%, Qozog'iston 10% olingan suv sug'orma dehqonchilik uchun ishlatilgan [2,3,10,14,15]. Orol tubi bo'yicha ilmiy izlanishlar olib brogan olimlar va O'zbekiston Respublikasi qishloq xo'jaligi vazirligi 2022 -ma'lumotlarida, O'zbekistonda 3,2 mln gektardan oshiqroq sug'oriladigan yerlar turli darajada sho'rlangan bo'lib, NaCl ning o'rtacha miqdori 20-40 mmni tashkil etadi. ...
... Shu jumladan, turli miqdordagi tuzlar ham yuzaga chiqib qolgan. Ko'plab adabiyotlardan ma'lumki Amudaryo deltasida tuzlar tarkibining ko'p qismini xlorid sulfatli tuzlar hosil qiladi [4, 6,11]. O.K. Komilov ma'lumotlariga ko'ra, Amudaryoning quyi oqimi hududi (Qoraqalpog'iston Respublikasi va Xorazm viloyati) sug'oriladigan yerlarida kuchli minerallashgan yer osti suvlarining ko'tarilishi natijasida qishloq xo'jaligi, sanoat inshoatlari katta zarar ko'rmoqda. ...
In this article, the morphogenetic properties of the soils-grunt formed at point "0" of
the southern part of the dry bottom of the Aral Sea were studied, and chemical and agrochemical properties were analyzed in the laboratory by taking soil samples
... This phenomenon may exacerbate the spatial heterogeneity of water resources, which is already unevenly distributed, and increases the risk of drought (Guo et al., 2022). Unreasonable human activities, such as excessive grazing, overexploitation of groundwater, and inefficient agricultural irrigation, further worsen the impact of drought on the local ecosystem and socio-economic conditions (Gaybullaev et al., 2012;Li et al., 2020b;Micklin, 2016). For instance, the rapid desiccation of the Aral Sea, influenced by climate change and unsustainable water resource utilization, has resulted in a more than threefold increase in drought frequency in the surrounding areas, leading to severe degradation of the local ecosystem, including desertification and salinization, and causing significant impacts on local hydrology, economy, environment, and public health (Gaybullaev et al., 2012;Stone, 2015;Varis, 2014). ...
... Evidence has shown that human settlements around the lake are affiliated with the lake's environmental services, for example, access to water, pollution-free air, and climate, all of which are destroyed by the destruction of the environment (Matthias et al., 2020;Isazade et al., 2023). Likewise, Lake Utah in the American and Lake Aral in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have created many dangers for the people of these areas (Mischke et al., 2017;Micklin et al., 2016). The Tarim Basin destroyed the Loan Kingdom in 645 environmental monuments, probably considered one of the oldest human activities to dry up saline lakes (Mischke et al., 2017). ...
Environmental crises in Iran, including lack of rainfall and drying rivers, wetlands, and lakes, have caused natural and human hazards and vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, the drying of Urmia Lake as a national crisis can significantly create natural and human problems and risks. In this paper, based on annual Landsat satellite images and long-term changes in land cover using the output of the GEE system, we investigate shifts in the water level of Lake Urmia. The effects of its drying on the trend of population changes in surrounding settlements (cities and villages) from 1986 to 2021 indicate that Urmia Lake’s water level is expected to be 1271.39 m in 2021. The lake’s salt area has increased by 465 Km2 due to its drying trend from 1986 to 2021. The water level estimate for the lake in November 1986 was 1275 m, indicating a 3.7-meter drop in Urmia Lake’s water level. Indeed, from 1995 to 2021, the lake lost approximately 48% of its area and 89% of its volume. It was observed that water reduction has a negative effect on the level of Urmia Lake. Modis imagery -using the Linear Fit algorithm- shows an unbalanced relationship in lake water use between 1986 and 2021. The trend of the water area decreasing in Urmia Lake caused five centers of salt dust in the lake. The dust from the five centers significantly impacted the surrounding settlements (cities and villages). Most of the towns in a county like Tabriz (-3.3%), Azarshahr (-0.7%), and Malekan (-0.6%) have negative population growth instead, in urban areas like Urmia (4.3%), Osku (7%), and Azarshahr (3.4%). Increasing in the population happened. Thus, drying lakes and dust and salt centers have a terrible effect on more than 7 million people in villages and cities and intensified migration from 1986 to 2021.
... In light of climate warming and the escalated water demand resulting from human activities, the decline of water reserves in worldwide inflow regions has been notably substantial. . The desiccation of the Aral Sea, resulting from excessive irrigation water withdrawals, is widely recognized as one of the most catastrophic anthropogenic environmental disasters (Micklin, 2016;Thevs et al., 2017). Other inland lakes that are experiencing shrinkage include the Caspian Sea (Prange et al., 2020) and Lake Urmia (Hassanzadeh et al., 2012;Taheri et al., 2019). ...
Study region: Ili River, the main river in the Lake Balkhash basin. Study focus: This study introduces a novel hybrid model by coupling the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model with machine learning algorithms. It aims to simulate and forecast the streamflow of the Ili River, clearly delineating the roles of meteorological factors and anthropogenic factors in the process of streamflow change. New hydrological insights for the region: During the period 1960-2020, the contribution of climate change to streamflow variation was 104.59%-113.07%, the contribution of land use ranged from − 10.75% to − 4.59%, and the impact of reservoir construction was − 2.27%. The predictive outcomes of the hybrid model indicate that, under the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, the streamflow of the Ili River is projected to increase by 12.8% and 14.3% respectively in the future period (2021-2100), in comparison to the historical period (1960-2020). The warming and humidification from 2021 to 2100 will lead to changes in the streamflow components of the Ili River, with a decrease in the proportion of groundwater flow and an increase in the proportion of surface flow. The results of this study provide a reference for the rational utilization and scientific management of water resources in the Ili River Basin.
... They are valued for lithium and potassium extraction (e.g., Marazuela et al. 2019Marazuela et al. , 2020, and global declines in the areas of saline lakes highlight their ecological and broader economic importance (Wurtsbaugh et al. 2017). Changes in saline basins can increase aerosolized dust sources, negatively impacting air quality and human health (e.g., Owens Valley, California, USA, and the Aral Sea in central Asia) (Kittle 2000;Indoitu et al. 2015;Micklin 2016). Knowledge of saline pan processes informs astrobiology, sedimentology, paleoclimatology, and evaporite-related resource management. ...
Saline pans are environments with ephemeral to persistent evaporite crusts, surface and groundwater brine, little to no vegetation, and low topographic gradients. These characteristics make them sensitive to diverse hydrological processes. This research provides guidance on assessing and interpreting fluctuations in saline pan groundwater levels. Observations from the center of the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA, focused on meteorological and groundwater level fluctuations and were used to quantify evaporation and identify natural environmental controls on saline pan groundwater level variation. Primary water fluxes consist of precipitation and evaporation. Eddy-covariance evaporation measurements, spanning over 1.5 years and capturing diverse surface conditions, were collected. An artificial neural network, trained on meteorological measurements and eddy-covariance-measured evaporation, estimated evaporation over a 6-year period. The saline pan has two states: (1) dry, when water availability rather than evaporative potential limits evaporation, and (2) wet, when evapora- tive potential limits evaporation. In dry conditions, characterized by evaporation rates of ~0.1 mm/day, groundwater levels with daily average depths ≥5 cm below the surface, demonstrated daily variations >6 cm during summer and seasonal fluctuations >50 cm in response to temperature changes. Groundwater levels did not respond to temperature changes when there was surface water. Groundwater levels rose to the surface under wet conditions. Over multiple years, the system is in balance, with evaporation equaling precipitation.
... Global warming has encouraged a global quest to save inland water bodies, including rivers, lakes, coastal areas, and wetlands (Alvarado Espejo et al. 2021;Jia et al. 2022;Ong 2012;Piniewski et al. 2022;Stachowicz et al. 2022). This quest is vital in dry and semidry areas due to increased water demand and water loss caused by a high rate of evapotranspiration (ET) (Edwards and Null 2019;Micklin 2016;Parsinejad et al. 2022). Water deficiencies in these areas lead to problems with public health, civil conflicts, and cultural and economic issues (Gleick 1993;Petersen-Perlman et al. 2017). ...
... A high number of large lakes around the globe have vanished or dramatically shrunk over time. They include Lake Urmia in Iran, Lake Waiau in Hawaii, the Dead Sea in the Middle East, Scott Lake in Florida, and the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (Enzel et al. 2003;Larsen 2005;Micklin 2016;Parsinejad et al. 2022;Patrick and Kauahikaua 2015). Lake Urmia in northwest Iran, the largest Lake in the Middle East and one of the largest permanent hypersaline lakes on Earth, is experiencing critical conditions (Parsinejad et al. 2022;UNEP 2012;Zarghami 2011). ...
Lake Urmia in the northwest of Iran is one of the largest vanishing lakes in the world. Several water-saving strategies have been implemented in the lake basin over the last decade, but they are not producing efficient results. This study employed a modified version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), an agrohydrological model, to investigate the basin-scale effectiveness of some water-saving plans implemented at the farm scale. Data collected from 301 monitoring sites in the Lake Urmia basin were applied to the modified SWAT model. The modified SWAT model was used to estimate water balance components and was coupled with the Water Accounting Plus framework (WA+). Six discharge stations, crop yields, evapotranspiration, and groundwater level tables were calibrated and validated from 1987 to 2015 within the Zarrineh Rud Basin (ZRB), the most crucial subbasin in the Lake Urmia basin. Next, four individual water-saving plans-changes in irrigation management and developments in irrigation systems, changes in fertilizer type and regime, changes in the type and method of cultivation, and farm size and shape adjustments-as well as seven combinations of the water-saving plans, were applied to the agrohydrological model. The results reveal that assessing restoration plans for Lake Urmia without considering both farm and basin scales provides no reliable results. With changes in management and the development of irrigation systems, considerable differences in water withdrawal were observed. Developing irrigation systems leads to enhanced water consumption and evapotranspiration, which is expected to improve water yield and crop productivity. However, individual plans such as developments in irrigation systems cannot increase the inflow to Urmia Lake, and combined water-saving strategies can help restore the lake only to a limited extent, because the changes in inflow are not substantial.
... The review provides a multi-scale approach to vulnerability assessment and looks at the role of scale in assessing human vulnerability to climate change [24]. Ref. [8] explores the current efforts to restore the Aral and looks at several scenarios of the sea for the future (Figure 1), primarily using hydrologic data based on hydrologic and salinity models [8]. The Aral Sea's area was only 10.3% of its original size, and its water content was only 4.4% of what it once was [8]. ...
... The review provides a multi-scale approach to vulnerability assessment and looks at the role of scale in assessing human vulnerability to climate change [24]. Ref. [8] explores the current efforts to restore the Aral and looks at several scenarios of the sea for the future (Figure 1), primarily using hydrologic data based on hydrologic and salinity models [8]. The Aral Sea's area was only 10.3% of its original size, and its water content was only 4.4% of what it once was [8]. ...
... Ref. [8] explores the current efforts to restore the Aral and looks at several scenarios of the sea for the future (Figure 1), primarily using hydrologic data based on hydrologic and salinity models [8]. The Aral Sea's area was only 10.3% of its original size, and its water content was only 4.4% of what it once was [8]. As a result, the Aral Sea's salinity increased from 10 g/L in 1960 to 130 g/L by 2010 [29]. ...
This study investigates how life expectancy is influenced by CO2 emissions, health spending, GDP, water usage, agricultural output, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption within the Aral Sea basin, which is an environmentally catastrophic zone in the world. This research utilized data from the years 2002 to 2020 and employed various econometric approaches, including FMOLS, DOLS, and Driscoll–Kraay. The outcomes of the study reveal that health spending, GDP, water productivity, agriculture output, energy consumption, and human capital have a positive impact on life expectancy, but CO2 emissions have a negative impact on life expectancy. The most important policy takeaway from this study is the need to develop and implement comprehensive policies that take into account health spending, GDP, water, agricultural output, energy consumption, and education level in order to ensure life longevity.
... Biroq, 184 ming km 2 ni egallagan yangi doimiy yer usti suv havzalari paydo boʻlgan [9]. Dunyo boʻylab doimiy suv havzalari yoʻqotilishining 70 % dan ortigʻi Qozogʻiston, Oʻzbekiston, Eron (56 %), Afgʻoniston (54 %), Eroq (34 %) mamlakatlar hududiga toʻgʻri kelgan [4,7]. ...
The study carried out mapping of three lakes located in the Southern Aral Sea region. For the study area, satellite images from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) research center and the European Commission database for the period 1984-2021 were selected. At the next stage, calculations were carried out using ArcGIS software. As a result of the calculation, the reduction in the area of lakes amounted to 38 - 86,3 %. As a result of the research, it was found that all the studied lakes became seasonal.
... In 2008, in collaboration with Uzbekistan's Forestry Research Institute, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTC) planted black saxaul (Haloxylon Aphyllum) in the central dry regions of the Aral Sea to reduce sand dust (Xenarios et al., 2019). Kazakhstan has built the Kok-Aral dam to ensure the restoration of the North Aral Sea and developed measures to reduce the discharge of industrial effluents into the Aral Sea (Micklin, 2016;Rzymski et al., 2019). However, previous governance measures did not consider the spatial variability of ecological problems in the Aral Sea and lacked regional planning and governance, so the ecological environment of the Aral Sea is undergoing continuous deterioration. ...
The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world but it has shrunk dramatically as a result of irrational human activities, triggering the “Aral Sea ecological crisis”. The ecological problems of the Aral Sea have attracted widespread attention, and the alleviation of the Aral Sea ecological crisis has reached a consensus among the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan). In the past decades, many ecological management measures have been implemented for the ecological restoration of the Aral Sea. However, due to the lack of regional planning and zoning, the results are not ideal. In this study, we mapped the ecological zoning of the Aral Sea from the perspective of ecological restoration based on soil type, soil salinity, surface water, groundwater table, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), land cover, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) data. Soil salinization and salt dust are the most prominent ecological problems in the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea was divided into seven first-level ecological restoration subregions (North Aral Sea catchment area in the downstream of the Syr Darya River (Subregion I); artificial flood overflow areas downstream of the Aral Sea (Subregion II); physical/chemical remediation area of the salt dust source area in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea (Subregion III); physical/chemical remediation areas of severe salinization in the central part of the South Aral Sea (Subregion IV); existing water surface and potential restoration areas of the South Aral Sea (Subregion V); Aral Sea vegetation natural recovery area (Subregion VI); and vegetation planting areas with light salinity in the South Aral Sea (Subregion VII)) and 14 second-level ecological restoration subregions according to the ecological zoning principles. Implementable measures are proposed for each ecological restoration subregion. For Subregion I and Subregion II with lower elevations, artificial flooding should be carried out to restore the surface of the Aral Sea. Subregion III and Subregion IV have severe soil salinization, making it difficult for vegetation to grow. In these subregions, it is recommended to cover and pave the areas with green biomatrix coverings and environmentally sustainable bonding materials. In Subregion V located in the central and western parts of the South Aral Sea, surface water recharge should be increased to ensure that this subregion can maintain normal water levels. In Subregion VI and Subregion VII where natural conditions are suitable for vegetation growth, measures such as afforestation and buffer zones should be implemented to protect vegetation. This study could provide a reference basis for future comprehensive ecological management and restoration of the Aral Sea.
... Playas, or dried lakes, often occur in semi-arid and arid climates due to a negative balance between evaporation and precipitation (Yechieli and Wood, 2002). Recently, over 70% of lake shrinkages have occurred in Asia, especially in the Middle-East, due to human activities and drought (Micklin, 2016). These lakes are experiencing ecological changes due to both natural and anthropogenic activities. ...
Study region: Bakhtegan Lake, southern Iran, is a "Wetland of International Importance" (Ramsar Site). Study focus: This study focuses on analyzing the time series of the lake's inundation area, identifying factors contributing to its shrinkage, and studying its hydrochemical characteristics. To map the inundation area, Landsat images from 1972 to 2019 were used and 64 water samples were collected from the lake during 2017-2019 for geochemical modeling. New hydrological insights for the region: The study reveals that the Bakhtegan Lake has become a seasonal lake with a long-term dry state since 2007. The lake's inundation area shows a significant correlation with the Kor River discharge, and the main reason for the lake's shrinkage is a decrease in river inflow due to over-exploitation in the basin and construction of two new dams since 2007. The lake water and brine below the lake bed have TDS concentrations varying between 70000 and 451000 mg/L and 118000-373000 mg/L, respectively. The Gibbs, Na-normalized ratio end-member diagrams show that the lake water chemistry is mainly controlled by evaporation. The saturation index indicates that brine samples were in an equilibrium state with gypsum, halite, and glauberite. The Spencer diagram and evolutionary pathway model suggest that water samples shifted toward natural sulfate-rich minerals during evaporation. The lake water evolution model predicts precipitation of halite, kieserite, and carnallite minerals during progressive evaporation.
