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Article: Dry tears of the Aral.(includes related articles)(deterioration of the Aral Sea)
- Article from:
- UN Chronicle
- Article date:
- March 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 United Nations Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Environmental experts have rung the death knell for the Aral Sea in Central Asia.
The world's fourth largest lake in 1960, the Aral Sea has already shrunk to half its former size-a result of unsustainable cotton cultivation that began less than 40 years ago. But though the sea itself can no longer be saved, its toxic salt plains have paradoxically given rise to a new spirit in the region.
The Aral Sea is only the epicentre of the "tragedy", as Central Asians commonly refer to this legacy of environmental misuse; the damage has also consumed thousands of surrounding square kilometers. Called "the most staggering disaster of the twentieth century" by the ...