The Aral Sea - Water Conflicts

Question 1

Where is the Aral Sea?

Answer 1

North-Western part of Uzbekistan and Southern Kazakhstan

Question 2

What ranking was the Aral Sea previously?

Answer 2

Formerly one of the fourth largest lakes of the world

Question 3

What is the area of the Aral Sea?

Answer 3

68,000 kilometres

Question 4

Since what year has the Aral Sea been steadily shrinking from?

Answer 4

Since the 1960s

Question 5

Why has the Aral Sea been shrinking?

Answer 5

In the early 1960s, the Soviet Central Government decided to make the Soviet Union self-sufficient in cotton and increase rice production - Government officials therefore ordered the additional amount of water needed to be taken from the two rivers that feed the Aral Sea

Question 6

What was built across each river?

Answer 6

Large dams

Question 7

They built a central canal with a far-reaching system of “feeder” canals. How many miles long was it?

Answer 7

850 miles

Question 8

Over how many years have they experienced a severe drop in water level?

Answer 8

30 years

Question 9

What else has happened to the Aral Sea?

Answer 9

The shoreline has receded and the salt content has increased

Question 10

How many metres has the water level dropped by?

Answer 10

16 metres

Question 11

By what percentage has the volume reduced by?

Answer 11

75%

Question 12

Which industry suffered due to the marine environment becoming hostile and killing plants and animals?

Answer 12

Fishing

Question 13

How many known species of fish are now extinct?

Answer 13

20

Question 14

How many fifths has the sea shrunk by?

Answer 14

Two-fifths of its original size

Question 15

What rank is the Aral Sea now?

Answer 15

10th in the world

Question 16

What has happened to the climate?

Answer 16

Become more extreme

Question 17

What has happened to the water?

Answer 17

It is contaminated and the drinking water supplies are bad

Question 18

Which respiratory illnesses are more common?

Answer 18

Cancer and Tuberculosis

Question 19

What is the high child mortality rate as a result of the contaminated water?

Answer 19

75 in every 1,000 newborns

Question 20

What is the maternity death rate as a result of the contaminated water?

Answer 20

12 in every 1,000 women

Question 21

How many people did the now collapsed fishing industry used to employ?

Answer 21

40,000

Question 22

Who are the stakeholders in the Aral Sea scheme?

Answer 22

1) Former soviet governments
2) Fishing community
3) Local residents - health problems
4) Scientists - climate has changed and extinction of species
5) International economists - no longer feed themselves due to infertile land, could create 10 million environmental refugees

Question 23

How many lakes did the Aral Sea split into?

Answer 23

4

Question 24

What estimated number of people left their fishing livelihoods?

Answer 24

60,000

Question 25

Why does the cotton production pollute the water and the environment?

Answer 25

Because of the use of chemicals and fertilisers which therefore makes the water unsafe and undrinkable

Question 26

What percentage of people were unemployed?

Answer 26

17.5%

Question 27

Where did the men go to find work in order to supply for their family?

Answer 27

They migrated in order to earn money and then send it back home to families

Question 28

By 2007, the Aral Sea had declined to what percentage of its original size?

Answer 28

10%

Question 29

When could the Aral Sea disappear entirely by?

Answer 29

The end of this decade

Question 30

Why did the Aral Sea come back to life?

Answer 30

100 million dollar building of a dam which lead to the water levels shooting up by more than 3 metres