04-21-2008, 08:13 PM
Last months issue of Scientific America had an interesting story on the Aral Sea. (April issue)
Almost the total demise of the lake due to irrigation.
The shore line has receded 100 kilometers and created a wasteland.
This has created an ecological upset with temperature and humidities.
Over a 30 year period the Marsh area (hectares) has dropped from 100,000 to a mere 15,000 hectare, mammals have dropped from 70 species to 32, fish species from 32 to 6 and avian species have dropped for 319 to 160.
In 1960 the fishing harvest yielded 40, metric tons, in 2004 the yield was 200 metric tons. In 2007 the catch had recovered very slightly to 2,000 m.tons.
There are some mitigating processes to try and repair the damage that has been done.
However, it will be a long argious endeavor, if it succeeds at all.
Other large lakes on the globe are starting to suffer the same fates. Lake Chad in Africa and Salton sea in California just to name two.
I’ll link to the magazine preview article. The actual article is long.
Link
Almost the total demise of the lake due to irrigation.
The shore line has receded 100 kilometers and created a wasteland.
This has created an ecological upset with temperature and humidities.
Over a 30 year period the Marsh area (hectares) has dropped from 100,000 to a mere 15,000 hectare, mammals have dropped from 70 species to 32, fish species from 32 to 6 and avian species have dropped for 319 to 160.
In 1960 the fishing harvest yielded 40, metric tons, in 2004 the yield was 200 metric tons. In 2007 the catch had recovered very slightly to 2,000 m.tons.
There are some mitigating processes to try and repair the damage that has been done.
However, it will be a long argious endeavor, if it succeeds at all.
Other large lakes on the globe are starting to suffer the same fates. Lake Chad in Africa and Salton sea in California just to name two.
I’ll link to the magazine preview article. The actual article is long.
Link