Aral Sea Desiccation (1960s-present)

The Aral Sea Desiccation is a catastrophic man-made ecological collapse, with the Aral Sea having lost 90% of its volume since the 1960s. Soviet-era irrigation projects diverted the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, shrinking the sea from 68,000 km² to just 10% of its original size. This exposed over 54,000 km² of toxic salt flats, which now release an estimated 75 million tonnes of dust annually. This dust is laced with pesticides and heavy metals, contributing to respiratory disease rates in the region that are 30% higher than the national average. Irrigated cotton yields in the affected areas have plummeted by 40% since 1990.