Full Documentary: "Aral. The lost sea" by Isabel Coixet | We Are Water Foundation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2016
- The drying up of the Aral Sea is one of the greatest environmental disasters in history. Between 1954 and 1960, the government of the former Soviet Union ordered the construction of a 500 km-long canal that would take a third of the water from the Amu Darya River for an immense area of irrigated land in order to grow cotton in the region. The increasing need for water, due to bad transport management and a lack of foresight and efficiency in land irrigation, meant that more water had to be diverted from rivers flowing into the Aral Sea. As a result, in the eighties, the water reaching the port was as little as 10% of the amount in 1960, and the Aral Sea began to dry up. Consequently, the Aral Sea currently occupies half of its original surface area and its volume has decreased by a quarter, 95% of the nearby reservoirs and wetlands have become deserts and more than 50 lakes from deltas with a surface area of 60,000 hectares have dried up.
In terms of climate, this process has eliminated the area’s environmental shock absorbing capacity, making winters and summers harsher, with a subsequent increase in severe droughts. The wind has displaced tons of the saline sand that was originally at the bottom of the dried-up area to a distance of up to 200 km, which has drastically exacerbated the situation. Added to this, fertilisers and pesticides were used indiscriminately, polluting the air and groundwater.
The Soviet goal to have saline water at four times the limit recommended by the WHO reduced the groundwater level from 53 to 36 metres, which in turn caused serious problems with the supply of drinking water. The consequences for the health of the population have also been extremely serious. The region has the highest infant mortality rates in all of the former Soviet Union. Chronic bronchitis has increased by 3000% and arthritis by 6000%. In the Uzbek region of Karakalpakstan, anaemia is epidemic among women and 97% of them have haemoglobin levels lower than the 110 grams per litre of blood established by the WHO. Experts point out that this is caused by the consumption of stagnant water containing zinc and magnesium. In the same zone of Uzbekistan, liver cancer increased by 200% from 1981 to 1987, throat cancer by 25% and infant mortality by 20%. Also, cases of hepatitis, respiratory disease, eye-related illness and intestinal infection in the region are seven times higher than in 1960.
All of this occurred in a relatively short period of time and the most shocking thing is that it happened with an almost total lack of international awareness. In 2003, satellite pictures from NASA demonstrated the full scale of the disaster and what many scientists had already announced. World opinion is now mobilising and we are beginning to find out the full extent of the current human disaster. In January 1994, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement pledging 1% of their budgets to contribute to the recovery of the sea; however, cooperation among these countries has been minimal. Currently, the northern zone of the Aral Sea is recovering slightly as a result of the construction of the Kokaral dam by the Kazak Government to retain water that would normally flow into Uzbek territorial waters.
more information at www.wearewater.org
For those who want to learn more + what is happening now :
For the past 2+ years, our team have been working on a documentary series exploring the past, present, and future of the Aral Sea.
The trailer has just gone live on our channel! 🙏
Great film and work Isabel Coixet!
great video and music
Informative.........
Haunting background score.
This was amazing
👍😔видео
Lake Owens in Southern California, was desiccated in a similar way, though on a smaller scale. Like the Aral, Owens is a shadow of it's former self, and shares many similarities with it's Central Asian big brother. In both cases, channels and aqueducts were constructed as a feedstock for human industry, with the former large, healthy lakes, and their surrounding regional ecosystems, paying the price.
We have not got tired of doing this. More seas, lakes and river basins are awaiting to become deserts. Presently we are busy filling 'em up with polythene, plastic and pesticides etc. Sooner than later we'll succeed.
Very nicely done, excellent music choice also.
Being from The Great Lakes Basin, I’ve been watching this nightmare since the 70s. As our population grows and America’s demand for fresh water and irrigated crops increases, I have no doubt that when it becomes economically feasible, industry and greed will drain the The Great Lakes. Too bad nothing will be learned from The Aral Disaster.
No they’ll build dams slowing the water flowing out of the Great Lakes and they’ll ban crop fertilization from happening anywhere close to the Great Lakes and water is always recycled so once it’s used the sewage water is treated and filtered extensively before returning to the Great Lakes
MUY ACERTADO ESTE COMENTARIO. CONFORME SE VAYA NECESITANDO, MARES INTERIORES, PANTANOS, LAGOS Y HASTA UN VASO DE AGUA SE SECARÁN. QUEDARÁN DESÉRTICAS, EXACTAMENTE COMO PASÓ CON MARTES.
YA NO ESTARÉ, PERO AL DUEÑO DE EX TWITER Q LE LLAMAN LOCO, VERÁN QUE ES PREVISOR POR SUS CAPACIDADES INTELECTUALES Y DE SU BOLSILLO.
MUCHAS CIVILIZACIONES DESAPARECIERON,ÉSTA EMPEZÓ SU CUENTA ATRÁS.
They don't spend any real time talking about the irrigation projects that created the disaster in the first place! No explanations, just poetry. Which is fine.... if that's what you are looking for...
Somewhat informative but what's with the odd music choices and shaky camera? I wouldve like a more in depth explanation of reclamation projects and a more in depth explanation of what caused this. This documentary was trying to be to artsy instead of informative.
tours to the Aral Sea
Una lástima. En la albufera de Valencia hicieron algo parecido pero para sembrar arroz. Hoy casi toda la albufera son campos de arroz.
Building the Karakum canal was the worst idea ever. The Karakum canal took away 50 percent of the water flow from the Amu Darya River, one of the two major rivers that fed the Aral Sea. They should block off the Karakum Canal and other wasteful irrigation canals on the Amu Darya River.
Well, the water was used up by industrialized COTTON FIELDS, my question is... can salted sea water irrigate cotton fields, thats what other documentaries have mentioned I'm missing something here ? Someone please comment and clarify
They were using the water from the rivers that flowed into the sea that intern inhibited the amount of water that flowed into the sea so when the water evaporated it wasn’t able to be replenished as fast and the sea began to diminish
Just like the Salton Sea, dried up and unfit for any use.
Except that the Salton Sea itself was a mistake of Man.
Does anyone at there have the link or know where I can download the Official Russian clip plans on the Aral Sea, circa 1959-1960. . the clip I am after is a Soviet Union official link essentially advising that they know what was going to happen to the Aral Sean once the diversion started, I had it but have lost. Many thanks
If half of a sea can disappear within one life time imagine how quickly this earth is going to be destroyed by our greed😥
NI ME SIENTO NI DOY POR ALUDIDA. CON POCO NACÍ, CON LO SUFICIENTE ESTOY VIBIENDO Y CON NADA MORIRÉ.
A MI NO ME METAS EN LA BOLSA DE LA CODICIA.
Wow only the Soviets could make a sea disappear.
NewZealand is having a good go at a similar thing.Drawing too much water from the rivers and lakes for ever increasing irrigation.We can no longer drink or swim in many of our waterways due to pollution.People just never learn.The "mighty" dollar rules!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Roberto Chapa
The Americans did a good job with the salton sea.
Lake Owens in SoCal. Granted, it's smaller than the Aral, but the same thing happened. Owens is a shadow of it's former self, just like the Aral. Currently the largest source of dust pollution in the US. The aqueducts were built many decades ago to feed LA. At the expense of the Owens Valley region.
Look up for Cuatrociénegas in Coahuila, similar situation and catastrophic as well.
australia burning while coca cola etc emptying the aquafers never stopped, ethiopa, sudan drought while nestlé sucks up the aquafers neither
For a want of gun cotton
A sea was lost.
😢😢
They are telling thier proud history
Unisef should be put thier eye on this disaster
what is that music?
i think its planet caravan by black sabbath.
instead of running behind cotton crops they should have taken care of the sea and should have taken the benefits from it, fishing and other things would have helped them more than cotton crop, they should again let the rivers flow towards the aral sea and let it come back to life..
😥
Only human is responsible for this mistake
Suyu iyi değerlendirin kural yerleri orman ve yeşil
There was no management and waste water
SOS ! KARAKALPAKSTAN !!! SOS ARAL SEA
Aral lake should have been the name.
25 min ,tas loco mano , pasen resumen ps
Sos bobo vos? Para qué venís a mirar un documental si 25 minutos te parece largo?
Should have stuck with hemp and flax, never needed cotton.
soviets = crocodile
aral sea = Alabasta LMFAO
Bald and Bankrupt fans hit like!
Si eres de la clase de Anabelle y lees esto pasame las respuestas p
The first 4 minutes almost made me skip the video
Isn’t communism great.
It’s heading our way.
The stupid background audio is insulting my ears.. It is so loud.