How has the landscape of the Aral Sea region changed as a result of the drying of the sea?

The Aral Sea region experienced significant desertification during the desiccation period. The desertification is characterized by degradation of the land and natural resources to the point that they can no longer be used. Several factors influence the desertification, including the decline in the groundwater level.

What is the main cause of the shrinking of the Aral Sea?

Once thriving, the vast Asian lake was drained for irrigation. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, Central Asia’s shrinking Aral Sea has reached a new low, thanks to decades-old water diversions for irrigation and a more recent drought.

What happened to the environment in the areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster?

After the accident, radioactive materials were deposited mostly on open surfaces such as lawns, parks, roads, and building roofs, for instance by contaminated rain. Since then, the surface contamination in urban areas has decreased because of the effects of wind, rain, traffic, street washing and cleanup.

What country was most affected by the Chernobyl disaster Why?

The Chernobyl reactor exploded a short distance away from the Soviet town of Pripyat in the Kiev Oblast, or region, near the border of Belarus. The disaster produced the “largest uncontrolled radioactive release into the environment ever recorded” and mostly had an immediate impact on Ukraine, Belarus and West Russia.

How did irrigation affect the Aral Sea?

The irrigation of the cotton fields from the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers, contributed a great deal to the disappearance of the Aral Sea to more than half of its original size. As a result, more than 40,000 sq km of the heavily saline seabed are now exposed, and is now being blown out by frequent winds.

How does the Aral Sea affect the environment?

The shrinking Aral Sea has also had a noticeable affect on the region’s climate. The growing season there is now shorter, causing many farmers to switch from cotton to rice, which demands even more diverted water. A secondary effect of the reduction in the Aral Sea’s overall size is the rapid exposure of the lake bed.

What are the 2 negative effects of the Aral Sea shrinking?

The change in water quality in the Aral Sea basin reduced the number of fish in the river and in the sea, and destroyed most of fauna (2,3). International experts confirm that most water sources in Karakalpakstan are polluted, and that the pollution is mainly caused by the agro-industry and mining industries.

What are the effects of the Aral Sea shrinking?

What were the short term effects of the Chernobyl disaster?

The immediate and short-term effects resulting from heavy fallout exposure include radiation sickness and cataracts. Late effects are thyroid cancer, especially in children and adolescents, and leukaemia among exposed workers. The accident has also had important psychosocial effects.

What has been the main cause of death from the Chernobyl disaster?

Thirty-one people died within a few weeks of the accident from the initial steam explosion, exposure to radiation and thermal burns, and one due to cardiac arrest.