Every second our planet changes. This is partly the fault of the person who leads harmful anthropogenic activities. In addition to human influence, our planet is constantly exposed to volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, floods and landslides, which make significant changes to the Earth’s ecosystem and, in particular, to the seas and oceans of the blue planet, some of which are already in danger of complete drying out. So which seas are already gradually disappearing from the face of the Earth, and why? Let's try to understand this article.
Some seas of our planet may disappear in the near future
Content
- 1 Aral Sea
- 2 Dead Sea
- 3 Lake Urmia
- 4 Lake Chad
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea in the past wasa fairly large drainless salt lake in Central Asia, located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. At the sea, once considered the fourth largest among the inland waters of the planet, a rapid decline in water levels began in the 1960s. Thus, by 1989, the sea split into two isolated seas - the South and the North. In 2014, the eastern part of the Big (South) Aral Sea was completely dry. The reason for this was a significant decrease in the supply of fresh water from the main feeding water arteries, due to the development of agriculture. So, Karakumsky is considered to be one of the largest canals built for land reclamation, taking about 45% of all its water reserves from the Amudarya river (one of the feeding water arteries of the Aral Sea).
Amu Darya - one of the main waterways of Kazakhstan
See also: Sea level rises: time to build floating cities
Dead Sea
Dead Sea - one of the most famous inlandsalt lakes in the Middle East. The water level in it is 420 meters above sea level, which makes this place the lowest land on Earth. Unfortunately, the fate of the Dead Sea develops similarly to the Aral Sea. Increased water flow from rivers flowing into the sea for household needs, as well as pumping groundwater and climate change in the region - all this catastrophically affects the volume of water in the sea. Scientists say that by 2050 only a small salt lake will be located on the site of the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea can significantly crumble by 2050
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia - a closed salt lake,located in the Armenian Highlands, which is located in the north-west of Iran. At its best, the lake extended from north to south for 140 km and 85 from east to west. Over the past 20 years, the area of the lake has decreased to 2,000 sq. Km, while back in 1984 its area was 6,000 sq. Km.
Experts believe that the main reasonssuch a significant loss of water could be a severe drought and irrational use of water for irrigation, as well as the construction of dams on the rivers feeding it. The whole ecosystem of Lake Urmia is now under great threat, because according to experts, back in 2014 it should have turned into a swamp.
Lake Urmia
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Lake chad
Lake Chad is an ancient relict lake thatlocated in Central Africa on the border of four countries: Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria. Until the 60s of the last century, the lake area reached 26,000 square meters. km Despite the fact that the lake is located in one of the driest places on the planet, the main reason for its drying out is a sharp increase in water intake for the economic needs of an increasing population, as well as clogging of the solid flow of flowing rivers and a sharp climate change.
Lake chad
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Beyond these beautiful lakes, threatenedextinction is the whole flora and fauna of the area close to the water bodies. But, fortunately, the current situation attracted a lot of attention of ecologists and local authorities, who are making some efforts and measures to combat the problems of drying up of seas and lakes. How successful these measures will be is time will tell.