1. The Environmental Disaster of the Aral Sea

2. Create a cause-and-effect diagram, which lists a series of effects that resulted from diverting (redirecting) water for irrigation. Effects CAUSE Water for irrigation is diverted from rivers that feed Aral Sea

3. Location:

4. Why is the Aral Sea important? It was once the fourth largest inland body of water on earth It provided rich fishing resources It is an example of Soviet misuse of the environment Fishing once employed many thousands; unemployment is at about 40% today.

5. What started the Aral Sea problem? In the 1950s, the U.S.S.R. wanted to grow cotton in the deserts of Central Asia They needed to irrigate the land by using nearby rivers

6. How was the Aral Sea affected? The Amu Darya and the Syr Darya were a source of irrigation water These rivers feed into the Aral Sea The Aral has greatly shrunk Amu Darya River today is a mere trickle.

7. The Damage Over Time:

9. Ships stranded due to the lack of water

10. Former military ships on Vozrozhdenie Island

11. The Effects on Aral Sea Fishing In 1957 the Aral provided 26,000 tons of fish - today a catch is rare. Only the cans in the museum recall the past - all the canning factories have gone, the population has shrunk to 1,500.

12. Other Environmental Problems: Cotton cultivation requires the use of pesticides and fertilizers The use of these agents in the Aral Sea region have caused huge health problems Around 70% of women suffer from anemia and the death rate in childbirth is high.

13. Other Human Costs: The small bazaar in Muynak has almost no fruits or vegetables and the people feel abandoned by the world.

14. Soviet Damage to the Land and Humans

15. Intense air pollution due to industry on Russia’s Kola Peninsula

16. Semey, Kazakhstan – children suffer from birth defects due to nuclear fallout. Between 1949 and 1989 nearly 500 nuclear devices were detonated here.

17. Magnitogorsk, Russia - outside the Lenin Steel Works.

18. Baku, Azerbaijan – leaking oil rigs in their back yard become the only playgrounds for children in Baku.

19. Siauliai, Lithuania - Soviet military personnel left behind environmental damages which would cost up to $250 million to clean up.

20. Kiev, Ukraine. 1993 - Baffling cases of allergies and skin diseases among children are common due to pollution and radiation from Chernobyl.

21. Magnitogorsk, Russia - birth defects are reported to have doubled here since 1980.