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Shrinking Aral Sea

NASA Earth Observatory

Dec 05, 2018

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The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world. But in the 1960s, the Soviet Union diverted two major rivers to irrigate farmland, cutting off the inland sea from its source. The Aral Sea has been slowly disappearing ever since. These images show how the Aral Sea and its surrounding landscape has changed over the past few decades.

For more details about these images, read the full stories here:
World of Change: Shrinking Aral Sea
The Aral Sea, Before the Streams Ran Dry
North Aral Sea Recovery
The Aral Sea Loses Its Eastern Lobe
New Water in the Aral Sea
Shrinking Aral Sea

NASA Earth Observatory story by:

Producer: Kasha Patel
Images by: Jesse Allen, Lauren Dauphin, Robert Simmon, and Joshua Stevens,
Music: www.bensound.com

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Last Updated

Nov 25, 2025

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