The Dying Sea

White Gold – Dying Sea

White Gold – Dying Sea
Frauke Huber, Uwe H. Martin

Chemical use and excessive irrigation of cotton fields in Central Asia turned the fertile paradise of the Aral Sea into a chemically polluted salt desert. The decline continues in the south, where Uzbekistan forces its population to work the cotton fields. 

According to the WWF the production of 1 kg of cotton uses 7,000 to 29,000 liters of water because three-quarters of cotton grows under irrigation in dry, warm countries. Cotton growing is directly implicated in the degradation of large-scale ecosystems including the Aral Sea in Central Asia.

Where only 50 years ago the worlds 4th largest lake guaranteed a mild climate, a chemical polluted salt dessert remains. Sandstorms raise the poisonous dust of the plain into the air and contribute heavily to worldwide air pollution. The salt blown to the Pamir Knot melts the mountains’ glaciers, putting Central Asia’s water supply at peril.

While the large southern Aral Sea keeps shrinking there is some hope to restore the smaller northern Aral Sea. Irrigation works on the Syr Darya have been repaired and improved to increase its water flow, and in August 2005 a concrete dam was completed, separating the two halves of the Aral Sea. Since then the water level of the North Aral has risen, and its salinity has decreased. The restoration reportedly gave rise to long absent rain clouds and possible microclimate changes.

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  • Stranded ships rot in the former harbor of Aralsk in Kazakhstan. 

    Till the 1970‘s Aralsk was the centre of the fish-processing industry of the Aral Sea, which provided work for 60,000 people and generated 20,000 metric tons of fish annually. When the Aral Sea started to shrink in the 1960s due to excessive irrigation of cotton fields, Aralsk was left dry in a chemical polluted salt desert. Today Aralsk is a desperate place with an extremely high rate of unemployment and a wide array of environmental inflicted health problems. 

  • When the Aral Sea dried up many ships stranded in the desert and people collected the remains to build fences for camels. 

    Camels are the main economy in Tastubek, Kazakhstan, although in recent years a fishing industry developed when fish started coming back after a dam was build separating the smaller northern Aral Sea from the dying southern part.

  • About 40 kilometer from Kubla Ustyurt in Western Uzbekistan lays the new shoreline of the southern Aral Sea. 

    While the northern part of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan is rising again, the larger southern part is left to dry up. It is expected to split into an eastern and western part in the near future, with the later probably disappearing completely within a few years, leaving a salty desert behind. The water is already nearly as salty as the Dead Sea. 

  • Paintings in the museum in Moinak are reminders of the cities prosperous past. 

    Once one of Aral Sea’s two main fishing ports, it now stands 150 Kilometer from the shoreline in the middle of a man made desert. 

  • With the destruction of the Aral Sea all related industries in Aralsk suffered a decline as well. 

    Till the 1970‘s Aralsk was the centre of the fish-processing industry of the Aral Sea, which provided work for 60,000 people and generated 20,000 metric tons of fish annually. When the Aral Sea started to shrink in the 1960s due to excessive irrigation of cotton fields, Aralsk was left dry in a chemical polluted salt desert. Today Aralsk is a desperate place with an extremely high rate of unemployment and a wide array of environmental inflicted health problems. 

  • The Tujamujun reservoir was build in the 1980s to collect water of the Amudarya for irrigation of Uzbekistans provinces Khorezm and Karakalpakstan. 

    But since years the water level is so low that sandstorms rage on its ground and the little water it collects is far from fresh. It is the salty savage from the cotton fields further upstream. With all of Uzbekistan’s west suffering from unemployment and poverty many people retrieve the traditional nomad living of the region and build up herds of sheep’s and goats.

  • Pesticide polluted puddles of salt water remain in the dried harbor of Moinak, Uzbekistan.

    Pesticide polluted puddles of salt water remain in the dried harbor of Moinak, Uzbekistan.

  • Stranded ships lay scattered over the barren plain that used to be the Aral Sea.

    Stranded ships lay scattered over the barren plain that used to be the Aral Sea.

  • Balbike, the oldest woman in Tastubek, (Kazakhstan) has seen the decline of her village when the Aral Sea turned salty and the fishes died. 

    The fishing village lost nearly all its inhabitants during the seventies and eighties. But after a dam was build separating the smaller northern Aral Sea from the dying southern part water from the Syrdarya slowly started raising the water level and reducing the salt again. Some people tried fishing again since 1996 and every year there are more fishes. Slowly people start coming back to Tastubek to retrieve their families traditional custom.

  • The stranded ships in the desert became a symbol for the disaster of the Aral Sea and the failure of mankind.

    The stranded ships in the desert became a symbol for the disaster of the Aral Sea and the failure of mankind.

  • Children play in the former harbor basin in Bogun. Bogun has been an important port and was strongly affected by the destruction of the Aral Sea.

    Children play in the former harbor basin in Bogun. Bogun has been an important port and was strongly affected by the destruction of the Aral Sea.

  • Camels drink from the North Aral Sea, whose water is returning after work is being done to restore it.

    Camels drink from the North Aral Sea, whose water is returning after work is being done to restore it.

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The Dying Sea

The presentation shows the destruction of the Aral Sea from the salt covered shore to the stranded ships that rot in the former harbor of Aralsk.

The Dying Sea
Artist/Author: Uwe H. Martin Frauke Huber

The presentation shows the destruction of the Aral Sea from the salt covered shore to the stranded ships that rot in the former harbor of Aralsk.

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