The Aral Sea – Salty Legacy

Blue dream, white death or silent hope? The legend goes that it were gods, which dropped a turquoise on earth while they were playing together. At this ground a lake has been formed, rich in beauty, water and fish. The Aral Sea – once was the fourth largest lake of the world – is only a shadow of itself. And one of the most visible environment disasters in the world. In the 60s, the Soviet government decided to intensify cotton cultivation. For this the rivers Syr Darya and Amu Darya were redirected and huge irrigation systems have been installed. The Aral sea lost about 90 percent of its water volume. The consequences for humans and nature are irreversible. But hope is the last thing fishermen lose. “Today more than 20 species of fish live here again”, one of them says. But his words blow away, like the salt of the steppe.
 
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