I flew over the Aral Sea in 2015, the view from 37,000 feet showed not much was left. We have much to learn as a species. Many thanks for sharing this with us.
@@johnye4433 the reason it’s dried up is because the original river which fed it was redirected for cotton production during soviet times. Worse the redirected river channel was never properly built (simply digging a long trench without a bottom layer to keep the water in) meaning that the majority of water is lost in transport sinking into the earth. What remains is utilised for excessive cotton production for the last 50 years leading to the dried up Aral Sea which hundreds of thousands of people dependent on. It’s wasted to produce cotton in a region which is suboptimal for cotton leaving the Aral sea to dry up without anything feeding it and destroying the ecosystem around it for miles due to the high salt content in the remaining water.
@@johnye4433 you cannot use water that salty for farming and the original river doesn’t flow into the Aral sea as mentioned above. Without the original river being redirected back to the Aral sea it will slowly evaporate until only salt is left making everything around unusable for agriculture due to the high salt level. Why do you think in ancient times generals threw salt into the fields when they retreated its because it makes the land unusable for decades until the salt is filtered out through rain and dragged away through ground water. That is a process which depending on salt levels could take multiple human lifetimes. You might as well try to use ocean water to water your fields try how effective that is… And now imagine that ocean water has on average only 34 grams of salt per liter and the western Aral sea has 170 grams of salt per liter. Even the least salty areas have at-least half the oceans salt levels making them unusable for farming.
how did you put a link like that in your comment? never seen it before. ps. now it dont work anymore but at first I could press on "cradle of civilisation" and it would take me to another YT video
They sacrificed a sea for cotton? To demonstrate that we have a right to be on this Earth, they should find a way to refill this sea.. There must be a way.
devilishly complex. Unfortunately the river Amu Darya starts in Afghanistan and Tajikistan mountains. Afghanistan has plans to divert their waters for irrigation. The cotton farmers use the river for irrigation. By the time it gets there - 4 countries have claimed the waters and many political and economic constituents are involved. None will easily give up their claims.
Same problem is arising in the river Nile. All these rivers that cross national boundaries are in danger, because everyone wants a free economic resource, especially water.
@@traumvonhaiti most of this water is waisted by lack of trees and bushes protecting the water from heating. Just plant trees covering the water to keep it cooled and avoid present vaporation
The same is happening with Lake Titicaca because of lithium production to power electric vehicles, cellular phones and other electronics !! It was the highest navigable lake in the planet. Such a beautiful area. I was lucky to visit before the catastrophe started.
This report should have at least mentioned the Northern part of the Aral sea and how it has been saved, even if it is less than its former glory, at least it won't become a dead sea.
I saw the new shore of the Aral sea in Uzbekistan in 2016. I cannot believe it will soon disappear. The sea is as salty as the Dead sea today. Only the part of the sea in Kazakhstan can be saved.
@@АлексейГордеев-п1н but none comparable to what the soviet did. Many populations from central asian countries were displaced because of the depletion of the Aral sea. Soviet numbawan.
@@GenBril maybe it big, but i don't think so. How many people was displace? Maybe be 100 000, maybe be more. It isn't very big numbers. Now system of canals are feeding dozens millions of people. Before soviets build this canals region near Aral was called "hungry plain". Now it is home for millions people. I think system of canals must be improve, maybe it help to restore part of Aral sea (like North Aral), but it was sacrifice for good. P.S. Aral is temporary lake. It was very small lake 3000 years ago. Major part of water went to Caspian sea. Then soviets build canals they accidentally restore ancient river Uzboy and lake Sarakamysh which have size 10% of Aral sea.
I believe the river is being directed into a small portion of the lake which, from a a topographical perspective, makes the restoration of a small area of it possible.
I remember back in the day, certain people actually defended the Soviet Union as a "superior" system and way of life. Wonder if they still think this way especially in light of what looks like Putin;s attempt to conquer adjacent countries and revive the Soviet Union.
@@St4rTr3v1Ut10nHuh ? Dave Rubin was caught taking money from Russia, and producing anti ukraine propaganda for the Kremlin. He aint no liberal that’s for sure.
This is what china is doing to many rivers if they go unchecked. They are diverting water to deserts from rivers like brhamaputra which is life line for India and Bangladesh. They have already closed gates to river that flows to laos or Burma and it affected the river flow resulting in shallowing river and affecting shipping and fisherman
If the water isn't diverted it would still take decades to fill up again. And then marine life would need to be reintroduced which would take decades to recover, all while stopping people fishing during that the time stocks are recovering. We're talking at least 50 years. I can tell you now it ain't going to happen.
@MrToradragon I am not an expert on cotton production but I think cotton would not be a good crop for here. Cotton needs a fair amount of water and most cotton producing areas rely on artificial irrigation. The best idea would be to look at what others have done rather than going for a high-profit but unsuitable crop.
It's very much an economic and political problem. What you need is lots and lots of water. Entire industries are already dependent on this diverted water, no one's going to stop.
Russian capitalism... Or communism. They are the same. Insanity in individuals is something rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule ~ Freidrich Neitzsche.
It's going to get worse. The Taliban led Afghani govt is currently working overtime to divert the upstream water for their own uses. There is no treaty to prevent this. Downstream- all those farmers; they'll be screwed as well.
it not incompetence, it worked exactly as desired. The canal irrigated cotton fields. Soviets did not care about nature though because nature was something to command. One of many commie slogans was "we will command the wind and the rain".
This is what the great lakes would become. They have done so much dredging to improve shipping lanes, diverted so much water for a hundred reasons, and such a massive increase in general usage, this has resulted in as much as 40% more water leaving the lakes. The solution has been massive geoengineering to increase precipitation totals by as much as 400% in some areas (particularly east of lake huron). All the weather manipulation has caused the weather to be miserable with almost zero sunny or dry days (ie not pouring rain). It is never mentioned but anyone that lives in the area is aware of the lack of sunshine and endless torrents of rain. If the geoengineering were to stop, the lakes would slowly start to drop, not unlike the Aral Sea. What a disgrace.
The State of Utah, in the USA, refuses to seriously address the minimum lake level of the Great Salt Lake. They still are dragging their feet on getting monitors to measure heavy metal amounts in the air. Utah has not given up on the Bear River Project which would divert more water away from the lake. How many acre feet has Ag contributed to raising the Lake? About 70% of the water in Utah goes to one crop, alfalfa. This crop adds less than 1% to the State's GDP.
Short term gain, long term loss. So many people only live from day to day, they can’t see further ahead. It’s like living from paycheck to paycheck for survival.
LOL Afghanistan is currently working to divert the upstream river into a canal for their own irrigation projects. There will be a halt to irrigation, but only because there will be even less water going downstream.
At one point Pangaea was a thing. Ice ages. The great oxidization. Earthquakes. Volcanoes. The earth changes, the species on earth must change with it or perish.
Somebody need to convince Uzbekistan to stop cotton farming, we can’t only blame Soviet for Aral Sea dying , if you watch to charts and Maps, it’s dried up more faster after 1991 and highest in 2000s , it’s completely depends on countries there.
Had this happened in a democratic/capitalist nation this report would have included, by the fourth sentence, much deserved condemnation of the governance behind it all. But here we have a 6 minute video talking about saving what remains of this vast, dying ecosystem. Very curious.
I hope we get technology from the future that's essentially a tube that gives water to a dying sea (well...lake?) a chance to fill up slowly.... I mean it sounds stupid and ridiculous but think of it as a highway of water making sure some parts of the river is used to supply this great sea water... but idk it sounds so dumb too
The Aral Sea is connecting to Lake George of Australia, and the water is diverted to Lake George. Lake George is filling in recent years. Just my guess 😂😂
I'm wondering how many more are dying or gone that we don't even know about. Like in China or North Korea where there's so much privacy and censorship. Especially about negative things existing and happening.😢
World needs to tax cotton production and cotton garments to drive cotton farmers out of business. Do not buy, textiles, fashion industry is driving the world water resources to extinction. As people purchase more fashion products, more fresh water resources will be needed
So you all will do EVERYTHING EXCEPT diverting water AWAY from cotton fields back to the sea like it should have been. Its almost as if you wanted this and are complaining about it pretending to be stupid not knowing the solution.
I flew over the Aral Sea in 2015, the view from 37,000 feet showed not much was left.
We have much to learn as a species.
Many thanks for sharing this with us.
Greed never learns. Even in Australia the Murray Darling is basically dry due to up stream greed and it doesn't cross international borders.
Farming is the best way to use the water, if they want to exploit the dry land, maybe build a canal to Russia
@@johnye4433 the reason it’s dried up is because the original river which fed it was redirected for cotton production during soviet times. Worse the redirected river channel was never properly built (simply digging a long trench without a bottom layer to keep the water in) meaning that the majority of water is lost in transport sinking into the earth.
What remains is utilised for excessive cotton production for the last 50 years leading to the dried up Aral Sea which hundreds of thousands of people dependent on.
It’s wasted to produce cotton in a region which is suboptimal for cotton leaving the Aral sea to dry up without anything feeding it and destroying the ecosystem around it for miles due to the high salt content in the remaining water.
@@eduardbass839 I am proposing a solution going forward, not going back, because Soviet law is in the past
@@johnye4433 you cannot use water that salty for farming and the original river doesn’t flow into the Aral sea as mentioned above. Without the original river being redirected back to the Aral sea it will slowly evaporate until only salt is left making everything around unusable for agriculture due to the high salt level.
Why do you think in ancient times generals threw salt into the fields when they retreated its because it makes the land unusable for decades until the salt is filtered out through rain and dragged away through ground water. That is a process which depending on salt levels could take multiple human lifetimes.
You might as well try to use ocean water to water your fields try how effective that is…
And now imagine that ocean water has on average only 34 grams of salt per liter and the western Aral sea has 170 grams of salt per liter.
Even the least salty areas have at-least half the oceans salt levels making them unusable for farming.
We need 40 minutes documentary
1:30hr
Correct.
Absolutely crazy people saw this happen during their lifetime.
Isn't it? Seeing ships on the sea during working life and then buried in the sand when you retire.
One "cradle of civilization" began upstream of the Aral Sea.
We've been really hard on this planet.
what you mean WE Russian ?
how did you put a link like that in your comment? never seen it before.
ps. now it dont work anymore but at first I could press on "cradle of civilisation" and it would take me to another YT video
@@EDD519 keep quiet
They sacrificed a sea for cotton? To demonstrate that we have a right to be on this Earth, they should find a way to refill this sea.. There must be a way.
This Cotton is btw Not for clothes...
It was for Explosives
Nitrocotton
Even more sickening
There's a new sea forming south from the aral , made out of wastewater from agriculture . Heavily polluted and toxic but it's growing 🥲👍
@@ProfibobWotthat's what I was thinking, the remains of the sea were dropped on Afghanistan and then Ukraine.
Short but what an amazing report!
How about restoring the river and letting the sea return
devilishly complex. Unfortunately the river Amu Darya starts in Afghanistan and Tajikistan mountains. Afghanistan has plans to divert their waters for irrigation. The cotton farmers use the river for irrigation. By the time it gets there - 4 countries have claimed the waters and many political and economic constituents are involved. None will easily give up their claims.
Water wars.
Same problem is arising in the river Nile. All these rivers that cross national boundaries are in danger, because everyone wants a free economic resource, especially water.
@@traumvonhaiti most of this water is waisted by lack of trees and bushes protecting the water from heating. Just plant trees covering the water to keep it cooled and avoid present vaporation
@@traumvonhaiti those people need food, especially proteins from aral sea fish. Kazakhstan did a lot on their side
3:55 That farmer need to start RUclips channel of how to grow. So many abandon rivers around the world can be restructured for future generations.
What a bummer. Things like this make it hard to stay optimistic.
Entirely depressing
and we've only just begun...
Just another day in Russia...
@@alexpieters2345The rest of the world is not far behind in destroying the earth.
Thank you Kazakhstan for attempting to save the Sea ❤
The same is happening with Lake Titicaca because of lithium production to power electric vehicles, cellular phones and other electronics !! It was the highest navigable lake in the planet. Such a beautiful area. I was lucky to visit before the catastrophe started.
This pseudo climate saving with e-cars etc. is the bain of our existence.
The USSR destroyed the Aral Sea.
This report should have at least mentioned the Northern part of the Aral sea and how it has been saved, even if it is less than its former glory, at least it won't become a dead sea.
@@timeflysintheshop not only Northern Aral but lake Sarakamysh also. This ancient lake was accidentally restore by soviet then they built a canal.
I appreciate the research and video for the Uzbek side. We only see the Kazakh side and their dam that has rescued the north.
Why can't they just redivert the river back to its original channel
Sad to see shrubs instead of water.
Poor undeveloped post soviet countries with Arid climates, Autocratic governments who discourage foreign investment
@@ceconk123Bingo
they are using the water to grow cotten
They're in the "Russky mir". Beyond Adrian's wall.
Thank you Joe Stalin, and present governments for letting this continue.
Fantastic greetings from Australia
Omg never imagined human greed can empty the sea🚱
It's a big shallow lake ...get over it with
Human greed can destroy anything, even a whole planet.
Colorado River comes to mind
@@TUPELO_HUNNY Yes. Perfect example.
@@TUPELO_HUNNYwhataboutism comes to mind .
I saw the new shore of the Aral sea in Uzbekistan in 2016. I cannot believe it will soon disappear. The sea is as salty as the Dead sea today. Only the part of the sea in Kazakhstan can be saved.
Soviet designed.
Tulare lake in California was drine by americans. All farmers like water.
Makes you wonder how so many environmentalists can be communists.
@@GenBril but American did same thing. All Farmers like water. All states do same thing. It is nothing wrong about it.
@@АлексейГордеев-п1н but none comparable to what the soviet did. Many populations from central asian countries were displaced because of the depletion of the Aral sea. Soviet numbawan.
@@GenBril maybe it big, but i don't think so. How many people was displace? Maybe be 100 000, maybe be more. It isn't very big numbers. Now system of canals are feeding dozens millions of people. Before soviets build this canals region near Aral was called "hungry plain". Now it is home for millions people. I think system of canals must be improve, maybe it help to restore part of Aral sea (like North Aral), but it was sacrifice for good.
P.S. Aral is temporary lake. It was very small lake 3000 years ago. Major part of water went to Caspian sea. Then soviets build canals they accidentally restore ancient river Uzboy and lake Sarakamysh which have size 10% of Aral sea.
Great reporting. Thank you.
I believe the river is being directed into a small portion of the lake which, from a a topographical perspective, makes the restoration of a small area of it possible.
Uzbekistan have numerous dams in amundariya river ..if they want they can rejuvenate aral sea
Those dams are used for drinking
I remember back in the day, certain people actually defended the Soviet Union as a "superior" system and way of life. Wonder if they still think this way especially in light of what looks like Putin;s attempt to conquer adjacent countries and revive the Soviet Union.
"Back in the day?" My dude they are called "liberals" today
@@St4rTr3v1Ut10nHuh ? Dave Rubin was caught taking money from Russia, and producing anti ukraine propaganda for the Kremlin.
He aint no liberal that’s for sure.
Driving around in exotic places. That's a fun job. Good for the reporters.
Masterfully crafted and intelligently reported.Loved it.
"That was the biggest boat on the Aral. I was captain for 28 years." "On a boat?" no, on a football team
I just flew over it a few months ago; it had such such freakish shades of red that it seemed other-worldly.
Now I understand Borats attitude towards the Uzbeks.
This is what china is doing to many rivers if they go unchecked. They are diverting water to deserts from rivers like brhamaputra which is life line for India and Bangladesh. They have already closed gates to river that flows to laos or Burma and it affected the river flow resulting in shallowing river and affecting shipping and fisherman
Uzbek doesn’t have much say as they are at the end of the line. Everyone before them has taken a pound leaving them pennies.
Go for tourism.
There is a tremendous urge to travel among the young and restless.
Why didn't you show the Aral from a Kazakhstan side, you'll see the difference.
Look like the " Mekong River " is sharing the same fate.
Is it feasible to revive it?
If the water isn't diverted it would still take decades to fill up again. And then marine life would need to be reintroduced which would take decades to recover, all while stopping people fishing during that the time stocks are recovering. We're talking at least 50 years. I can tell you now it ain't going to happen.
Both Israel and Jordan (and, I am sure, others) have made the desert bloom, It can be done but it depends on water management.
@@oml81mm And the crops and the technology involved, I am not sure that drop irrigation is feasible for cotton production.
@MrToradragon I am not an expert on cotton production but I think cotton would not be a good crop for here. Cotton needs a fair amount of water and most cotton producing areas rely on artificial irrigation.
The best idea would be to look at what others have done rather than going for a high-profit but unsuitable crop.
It's very much an economic and political problem. What you need is lots and lots of water. Entire industries are already dependent on this diverted water, no one's going to stop.
His English is excellent
The forlorn pond that is left of a once vibrant sea full of life and economic sustainability reproaches humanity as a species.
It's a real shame that the lake is in such a sorry state.
Good Russian Planning Leads to Wasteland!
Russian capitalism... Or communism. They are the same.
Insanity in individuals is something rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule ~ Freidrich Neitzsche.
Colorado River, Salton Sea,
@@TUPELO_HUNNY The Salton Sea was manmade to begin with, but yes, the Colorado has been impacted hard. Tulare Lake would be a better example.
Not Russians but USSR Planning.
@@TUPELO_HUNNY It is not even close ,🤡 . just keeps spreading the hate , arent you?
It's going to get worse. The Taliban led Afghani govt is currently working overtime to divert the upstream water for their own uses. There is no treaty to prevent this. Downstream- all those farmers; they'll be screwed as well.
Cotton has destroyed the planet.
soviet russian incompetence
it not incompetence, it worked exactly as desired. The canal irrigated cotton fields. Soviets did not care about nature though because nature was something to command. One of many commie slogans was "we will command the wind and the rain".
Some parts are being restored I heard right?
This is what the great lakes would become. They have done so much dredging to improve shipping lanes, diverted so much water for a hundred reasons, and such a massive increase in general usage, this has resulted in as much as 40% more water leaving the lakes. The solution has been massive geoengineering to increase precipitation totals by as much as 400% in some areas (particularly east of lake huron).
All the weather manipulation has caused the weather to be miserable with almost zero sunny or dry days (ie not pouring rain). It is never mentioned but anyone that lives in the area is aware of the lack of sunshine and endless torrents of rain.
If the geoengineering were to stop, the lakes would slowly start to drop, not unlike the Aral Sea.
What a disgrace.
The State of Utah, in the USA, refuses to seriously address the minimum lake level of the Great Salt Lake. They still are dragging their feet on getting monitors to measure heavy metal amounts in the air.
Utah has not given up on the Bear River Project which would divert more water away from the lake.
How many acre feet has Ag contributed to raising the Lake?
About 70% of the water in Utah goes to one crop, alfalfa. This crop adds less than 1% to the State's GDP.
Wouldn’t it be better to re divert the rivers into the Aral Sea?
Wish I was given a chance to oversee the return of the biggest water mass in arid areas.
unfortunately, it won't be too long before some greedy people turns earth into another lifeless planet.
So the only living thing that survives in the Aral Sea, people are smuggling their eggs?!? That’s messed up beyond logic.
Short term gain, long term loss. So many people only live from day to day, they can’t see further ahead. It’s like living from paycheck to paycheck for survival.
It will take only a year after complete halt to irrigation and other diversions to realise wonders.
False.
LOL Afghanistan is currently working to divert the upstream river into a canal for their own irrigation projects. There will be a halt to irrigation, but only because there will be even less water going downstream.
"On a boat"
: nooooo!, on the enterprise from star trek
Turkic people originated near the Aral sea
Positive Hopes from Pakistan 🇵🇰 👍
all they have to do is let the rivers flow
At one point Pangaea was a thing. Ice ages. The great oxidization. Earthquakes. Volcanoes. The earth changes, the species on earth must change with it or perish.
@france24 can u please do a documentary on Oil Spills in the Atlantic and the dumping of plastics in the Ocean
Seems like the perfect place to harvest salt!
Its full of pesticides the Soviets used.
No because its not just salt but silt (dirt).
Soviet engineers genius thought to drain out the water from the influx.
Most of diverted water is getting wasted, mainly by percolation through the canal's primitive walls.
It is used extremely, criminally wastefully.
Here in the United States this reminds me of the problems we've been having with the Salton Sea in California.
Sad
To many people, to many consumers, think people! We cannot sustain this rate of consuming fish, meat, dairy, and non essential goods, think!
They exchanged cotton for fishing and the soviet are proud of it lmao
Easy make a channel and pump the sea water back! Combat rising sea levels
Somebody need to convince Uzbekistan to stop cotton farming, we can’t only blame Soviet for Aral Sea dying , if you watch to charts and Maps, it’s dried up more faster after 1991 and highest in 2000s , it’s completely depends on countries there.
Salt Lake may be the next disaster
Brine shrimp egg smugglers?
Sea monkies!
It always greatly saddens me when I watch anything related to the dad loss of much of this sea, surely it could be reversed by redirecting the river.
Had this happened in a democratic/capitalist nation this report would have included, by the fourth sentence, much deserved condemnation of the governance behind it all. But here we have a 6 minute video talking about saving what remains of this vast, dying ecosystem. Very curious.
I hope we get technology from the future that's essentially a tube that gives water to a dying sea (well...lake?) a chance to fill up slowly.... I mean it sounds stupid and ridiculous but think of it as a highway of water making sure some parts of the river is used to supply this great sea water... but idk it sounds so dumb too
Why Russia not opening that canal?
What Russia has to do with it?
cause russia not uzbekistan
The Aral Sea is connecting to Lake George of Australia, and the water is diverted to Lake George.
Lake George is filling in recent years.
Just my guess 😂😂
This is happening to the Great Salt Lake as well
This already happened in Tulare Lake and Salton Sea in California!
I'm wondering how many more are dying or gone that we don't even know about. Like in China or North Korea where there's so much privacy and censorship. Especially about negative things existing and happening.😢
Whole world is now similar
Wont the winds be mad irritating to the skin/eyes near this ? Like there has to be a lot of salt flying around
@france24english Can a river or canal be redirected to resupply the Aral Sea?
Please can you not use a map that have Morocco split in half thank you.
That's why sea levels are rising.
why not to turn the flow of the river Amur Darya back to the Aral Sea?
Same happ to Colorado River and Rio Grande in US.
False.
@@obsidianjane4413 nope look it up
It is not even close. Although the situations in both rivers are very alarming as well .
@@frankjames7272 Rio Grande has dried up in many parts like in El Paso
More like Tulare lake in california.
Why don't they redivert the river to the lake?
Nobody needs cotton production anymore.
Oh really? :-))))) Would you be so kind as to share, who's going to give us the money (that now we earn by selling that cotton) for free, then?
World needs to tax cotton production and cotton garments to drive cotton farmers out of business.
Do not buy, textiles, fashion industry is driving the world water resources to extinction.
As people purchase more fashion products, more fresh water resources will be needed
We ought to leave this world behind
So the specific gravity is a lot higher than 1.024?
Thank the soviet authorities
Maybe if they refill it we may not have so many floods around the world
how many endemic species went extinct in that lake ?
Criminal what has been done, for COTTON - Greed!
So you all will do EVERYTHING EXCEPT diverting water AWAY from cotton fields back to the sea like it should have been. Its almost as if you wanted this and are complaining about it pretending to be stupid not knowing the solution.
Google Earth was not there before 2001.
this the effect of the ideas of krusev..
What are the countries buying that dirt cotton?
Afghanistan is about pull even more water.
Its a sea or a lake?
Divert the river back, no?
Same in California with China lake
You can't make it up.
😢
We're kinda COVID trying to kill this planet, but for it will be just a little sneeze, we'll only exterminate ourselves.