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GeographyMystery U3

The document outlines the environmental disaster affecting the Aral Sea region, primarily due to man-made actions by Soviet engineers who diverted rivers for cotton cultivation. The consequences include severe health issues, economic decline, and ecological damage, with the population of affected areas drastically shrinking. Recent efforts to restore the Aral Sea through dam construction show potential for recovery.

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12 views3 pages

GeographyMystery U3

The document outlines the environmental disaster affecting the Aral Sea region, primarily due to man-made actions by Soviet engineers who diverted rivers for cotton cultivation. The consequences include severe health issues, economic decline, and ecological damage, with the population of affected areas drastically shrinking. Recent efforts to restore the Aral Sea through dam construction show potential for recovery.

Uploaded by

4fjpbrbfmw
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Geography Mystery

Directions: Using the clues on page 2, place the # of the Clue below the question it helps answer and
answer the question based on clues.

1. In which region of the world is this disaster taking place?

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are the direct consequences of
man-made environmental disasters in the region.(#5)

2. What is the name of the sea and what is the disaster?

Aral sea(#7)

3. What caused the disaster?

Canning factories have gone;the populetion has shrunk to 1,500 water is increasingly salt and the
area is hit by toxic dust storms and desertification(#3)

4. What are some effects of the disaster?

Action: What is the solution to the mystery?


Clue #1
Fresh water evaporates from the lake and is not replenished (replaced). The amount of dissolved
minerals (salt) in the water increases and the area of land covered by the water decreases.

Clue #2

Figure 1. The fishing fleet of Muynak is rusting away.

Clue #3
The fishing industry employed 60,000 people in Muynak in the 1960s. Unemployment is at about
40% today. Canning factories have gone; the population has shrunk to 1,500. Water is increasingly
salty, and the area is hit by toxic dust storms and desertification.

Clue #4
The toxic chemicals are leading to terrible health issues in the region. Over the past 15 years
chronic bronchitis has increased by 3,000 per cent in the area, arthritic diseases by 6,000 percent.
Cancers, allergies, miscarriages and kidney and liver diseases have all increased and life expectancy
has decreased from 64 years to 51. “We have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the
world,” says the director of the maternity hospital in the port city of Aralsk, in Kazakhstan.

Clue #5
This is a Man-made environmental disaster. Soviet Union engineers diverted (redirected) water from two
rivers to grow cotton in the surrounding desert. The worsening health and environmental problems of people
living on land consisting of parts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are the
direct consequences of man-made environmental disasters in the region.
Clue #6
Salt encrusts the earth like ice. Water became ever saltier, killing 24 species of freshwater fish and ruining its
fishermen. Once-thriving communities died. Today, drinking water in the region contains four times more
salt per liter than the limit recommended by the World Health Organization. This has caused increases in

kidney disease, diarrhea and other serious ailments.

Clue #7
Thanks to a new dam, “it's” coming back. In the middle of the Aral Sea, bulldozers are feverishly
carrying sand and mud to a wall that is slowly being constructed across the sea.

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