Toxic dust storms, anti-government protests, the 91裸聊视频� for generations, none of it has deterred Nafisa Bayniyazova and her family from making a living growing melons, pumpkins and tomatoes on farms around the Aral Sea.
Bayniyazova, 50, has spent most of her life near Muynak, in northwestern Uzbekistan, tending the land. Farm life was sometimes difficult but generally reliable and productive. Even while political upheaval from transformed the world around them, the family91裸聊视频檚 farmland yielded crops, with water steadily flowing through canals coming from the Aral and surrounding rivers.
Now, Bayniyazova and other residents say they91裸聊视频檙e facing a catastrophe they can91裸聊视频檛 beat: , which is accelerating the decades-long demise of the Aral, once the lifeblood for the thousands living around it.
The Aral has nearly disappeared. Decades ago, deep blue and filled with fish, it was one of the world91裸聊视频檚 largest inland bodies of water. It91裸聊视频檚 shrunk to less than a quarter of its former size.
Much of its early demise is due to human engineering and agricultural projects gone awry, now paired with climate change. Summers are hotter and longer; winters, shorter and bitterly cold. Water is harder to find, experts and residents like Bayniyazova say, with salinity too high for plants to properly grow.
91裸聊视频淓veryone goes further in search of water,91裸聊视频� Bayniyazova said. 91裸聊视频淲ithout water, there91裸聊视频檚 no life.91裸聊视频�
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HISTORY AND DEMISE
For decades, the Aral 91裸聊视频� fed by rivers relying heavily on , and intersecting the landlocked countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan 91裸聊视频� held meters-long fish, caught and shipped across the Soviet Union.
The region prospered, and thousands of migrants from across Asia and Europe moved to the Aral91裸聊视频檚 shores, for jobs popping up everywhere from canning factories to luxury vacation resorts.
Today, the few remaining towns sit quiet along the former seabed of the Aral 91裸聊视频� technically classified as a lake, due to its lack of a direct outlet to the ocean, though residents and officials call it a sea. Dust storms whip through, and rusted ships sit in the desert.
In the 1920s, the Soviet government began to drain the sea for irrigation of cotton and other cash crops. By the 1960s, it shrunk by half; those crops thrived. By 1987, the Aral91裸聊视频檚 level was so low it split into two bodies of water: the northern and southern seas, in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, respectively.
The United Nations Development Program calls the destruction of the Aral Sea 91裸聊视频渢he most staggering disaster of the 20th century.91裸聊视频� It points to the Aral91裸聊视频檚 demise as the cause of land degradation and desertification, drinking water shortages, malnutrition, and deteriorating health conditions.
National governments, international aid organizations and local groups have tried 91裸聊视频� with varying degrees of effort and success 91裸聊视频攖o save the sea. Efforts range from planting bushes for slowing the encroaching dunes to building multimillion-dollar dams.
But experts say climate change has only accelerated the death of the Aral, and will continue to exacerbate residents91裸聊视频� suffering.
91裸聊视频淥NLY US LOCALS91裸聊视频�
Without the moderating influence of a large body of water to regulate the climate, dust storms began to blow through towns. They whipped toxic chemicals from a shuttered Soviet weapons testing facility and fertilizer from farms into the lungs and eyes of residents, contributing to increased rates of respiratory diseases and cancer, according to the U.N.
Fierce winds caused dunes to swallow entire towns, and abandoned buildings filled with sand. Residents fled. A dozen fish species went extinct, and businesses shuttered.
Madi Zhasekenov, 64, said he watched as his town91裸聊视频檚 once-diverse population dwindled.
91裸聊视频淭he fish factories closed, the ships were stranded in the harbor, and the workers all left,91裸聊视频� said Zhasekenov, former director of the Aral Sea Fisherman Museum in Aralsk, Kazakhstan. 91裸聊视频淚t became only us locals.91裸聊视频�
Dust storms, , and wind erosion are destroying the glaciers the sea91裸聊视频檚 rivers rely on, . The remaining water is getting saltier and evaporating faster.
Melting ice and changing river flows may further destabilize drinking water supply and food security, the report warns, and hydropower plants could suffer.
During a recent summer in the small desert village of Tastubek, Kazakhstan, farmer Akerke Molzhigitova, 33, watched as the grass her horses fed on dried up from extreme heat. To try and save them 91裸聊视频� a major source of income and food 91裸聊视频� she moved them 200 kilometers (125 miles) away.
Still, dozens died. Her neighbors, fearing the same fate, sold their animals.
CONTRAST ALONG THE ARAL
Near Sudochye Lake in Uzbekistan, Adilbay and his friends fish in the Aral91裸聊视频檚 remaining water pockets. Their catch is tiny.
He holds his arms wide, the size of fish from years ago. 91裸聊视频淣ow there is nothing,91裸聊视频� said Adilbay, 62, who goes by only one name.
As the water disappeared, a nearby fish processing warehouse closed. Adilbay91裸聊视频檚 friends and relatives moved to Kazakhstan, seeking new jobs.
There, fisherman Serzhan Seitbenbetov, 36, and others find success. Sitting in a boat rocking in gentle waves, he pulled his net. In an hour, he hauled in a hundred fish, some 2 meters (6.5 feet) long. He91裸聊视频檒l make 5000 Kazakhstani Tenge ($10.50), he said 91裸聊视频� five times his previous daily pay as a taxi driver in a neighboring city.
91裸聊视频淣ow all the villagers make good money being fishermen,91裸聊视频� he said.
That91裸聊视频檚 the result of an $86 million dike project led by Kazakhstan, with assistance from the World Bank, completed in 2005.
Known as the Kokaral Dam, the dike cuts across a narrow stretch of the sea, conserving and gathering water from the Syr Darya River. The dike surpassed expectations, leading to an increase of over 10 feet in water levels after seven months.
That helped restore local fisheries and affected the microclimate, causing an increase in clouds and rainstorms, according to the World Bank. Population grew.
But it couldn91裸聊视频檛 replicate life before the water started drying up, said Sarah Cameron, an associate professor at the University of Maryland who91裸聊视频檚 writing a book about the Aral.
91裸聊视频淚t does not support the same amount of people and the fishing industry in the same way,91裸聊视频� Cameron said.
And building the dike in Kazakhstan cut off the south part of the sea in Uzbekistan from its crucial water source.
Uzbekistan has been less successful in restoration efforts. The government hasn91裸聊视频檛 undertaken large projects like the Kokaral. Instead, the country planted saxaul trees and other drought-resistant plants to help prevent erosion and slow dust storms.
Agriculture, especially the export of water-intensive cotton, continued to be a main staple of the economy. Millions of people worked 91裸聊视频� for years in forced-labor campaigns 91裸聊视频� in the cotton-picking industry, which further sapped water resources.
The discovery of oil and natural gas in the Aral91裸聊视频檚 former seabed brought the building of gas production facilities 91裸聊视频� and shows Uzbekistan has little interest in restoration, experts said.
91裸聊视频淲hile there has been some restoration,91裸聊视频� said Kate Shields, assistant professor in environmental studies at Rhodes College, 91裸聊视频渢here was a sort of an acceptance that 91裸聊视频� the sea was not coming back.91裸聊视频�
Government officials from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan didn91裸聊视频檛 respond to questions emailed by AP about restoration efforts, water scarcity and the effects of climate change.
91裸聊视频淏ARELY SURVIVING91裸聊视频�
On her Uzbekistan farm, Bayniyazova91裸聊视频檚 family has dug an earthen well, hoping to hold on to the precious little water that91裸聊视频檚 left.
91裸聊视频淚f there is no water, it will be very difficult for people to live,91裸聊视频� Bayniyazova said. 91裸聊视频淣ow people are barely surviving.91裸聊视频�
She doesn91裸聊视频檛 plan to leave her farm yet but knows more hardships are likely ahead. Her family will dig deeper wells, see smaller harvests. They91裸聊视频檒l do whatever it takes to hang on to the only life they91裸聊视频檝e known.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檒l do everything we can,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淏ecause what else can we do?91裸聊视频�
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