Editing Aral Sea (section)

== Impact on environment, economy, and public health ==
The Aral Sea is considered an example of [[ecosystem collapse]].<ref name='Foundations'>{{cite journal |last1=Keith |first1=DA |last2=Rodríguez |first2=J.P. |last3=Rodríguez-Clark |first3=K.M. |last4=Aapala |first4=K. |last5=Alonso |first5=A. |last6=Asmussen |first6=M. |last7=Bachman |first7=S. |last8=Bassett |first8=A. |last9=Barrow |first9=E.G. |last10=Benson |first10=J.S. |last11=Bishop |first11=M.J. |last12=Bonifacio |first12=R. |last13=Brooks |first13=T.M. |last14=Burgman |first14=M.A. |last15=Comer |first15=P. |last16=Comín |first16=F.A. |last17=Essl |first17=F. |last18=Faber-Langendoen |first18=D. |last19=Fairweather |first19=P.G. |last20=Holdaway |first20=R.J. |last21=Jennings |first21=M. |last22=Kingsford |first22=R.T. |last23=Lester |first23=R.E. |last24=Mac Nally |first24=R. |last25=McCarthy |first25=M.A. |last26=Moat |first26=J. |last27=Nicholson |first27=E. |last28=Oliveira-Miranda |first28=M.A. |last29=Pisanu |first29=P. |last30=Poulin |first30=B. |last31=Riecken |first31=U. |last32=Spalding |first32=M.D. |last33=Zambrano-Martínez |first33=S. |title=Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2013 |volume=8 |issue=5 |page=e62111 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0062111 |pmid=23667454 |pmc=3648534 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...862111K |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[ecosystem]]s of the Aral Sea and the [[river delta]]s feeding into it have been nearly destroyed, largely because of the salinity being dramatically higher than ocean water.<ref name="sciam" /> The receding sea has left huge plains covered with salt and toxic chemicals from [[Vozrozhdeniya island#History|weapons testing]], industrial projects, and runoff of pesticides and fertilizer.  Because of the shrinking water source and worsening water and [[soil quality]], pesticides were increasingly used from the 1960s to raise cotton yield, which further polluted the water with toxins (e.g. [[Lindane|HCH]], [[2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin|TCCD]], [[DDT]]).<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |first=Phillip |last=Whish-Wilson |url=http://www.jcu.edu.au/jrtph/vol/v01whish.pdf |title=The Aral Sea environmental health crisis |journal=Journal of Rural and Remote Environmental Health |volume=1 |issue=2 |year=2002 |access-date=17 May 2008 |page=30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409044733/http://www.jcu.edu.au/jrtph/vol/v01whish.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Industrial pollution also resulted in [[polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]] and heavy-metal contamination.<ref name="sciencedirect.com">{{cite journal |last1=Jensen |first1=S. |last2=Mozhitova |first2=Z. |last3=Zetterstrom |first3=R. |date=5 November 1997 |title=Environmental pollution and child health in the Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=206 |issue=2–3 |pages=187–193 |doi=10.1016/S0048-9697(97)80009-5 |pmid=9394482 |bibcode=1997ScTEn.206..187J}}</ref>

Owing to the insufficiency of water left in the Aral sea, concentrations of these pollutants rose drastically both in the remaining water and in the dry beds. This resulted in wind-borne toxic dust that spread quite widely. People living in the lower parts of the river basins and former shore zones ingested pollutants through drinking local water and inhaling contaminated dust.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Hara |first1=Sarah |last2=Wiggs |first2=Giles |last3=Mamedov |first3=Batyr |last4=Davidson |first4=George |last5=Hubbard |first5=Richard |date=19 February 2000 |title=Exposure to airborne dust contaminated with pesticide in the Aral Sea region |journal=The Lancet |volume=355 |issue=9204 |pages=627–628 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(99)04753-4 |pmid=10696990 |s2cid=42980999}}</ref> Furthermore, due to absorption by plants and livestock, toxins — many of which bioaccumulate and are not easily broken down or excreted by the liver and kidneys — entered the food chain.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> Inhabitants of the surrounding areas commonly experience a shortage of fresh water, and [[public health problems in the Aral Sea region|health problems]] are widespread — including high rates of certain cancers, respiratory illnesses including [[tuberculosis]] (mostly [[Drug-resistant tuberculosis|drug resistant]]), digestive disorders, [[anaemia]], and infectious diseases. Liver, kidney, and eye problems may also be due to the toxic dust storms. Together, this presented an unusually high fatality rate among vulnerable age groups: child mortality stood at 75 per 1,000 in 2009, while maternal mortality was 12 in every 1,000.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm |title=Aral Sea - Aral Sea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316062917/http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm |archive-date=16 March 2009}}</ref><ref>Mętrak M. Health and social consequences of the Aral Lake disaster. In: Chwil M., Skoczylas M.M. (red.). Contemporary research on the state of the environment and the medicinal use of plants. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego w Lublinie, pp. 99-108. Accessible in: [https://wydawnictwo.up.lublin.pl/files/wydawnictwo/2019/ksiazki/e_ksiazka/wspolczesne_badania....pdf https://wydawnictwo.up.lublin.pl/e-ksiazka]</ref>

The dust storms have also contributed to [[water shortages]] through salt deposition.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/impacts%20to%20life%20in%20the%20region.htm|title=The Aral Sea Crisis|publisher=Thompson, Columbia University|access-date=6 January 2013}}</ref> Overusing pesticides on crops to preserve yields has exacerbated this.<ref name=":0" /> Crops are destroyed where salt is deposited by the wind. The most heavily affected fields must be flushed with water four times per day to remove salt and toxic matter.<ref name=":0" /> A 1998 study indicated that few crops (besides [[fodder]]) tolerate the degradation, restricting what [[Kazakhstan]] farmers now choose to seed.<ref name="Saiko">{{cite journal |last1=Saiko |first1=Tatyana |date=1998 |title=Geographical and socio-economic dimensions of the Aral Sea crisis and their impact on the potential for community action |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |volume=39 |issue=2 |page=230 |bibcode=1998JArEn..39..225S |doi=10.1006/jare.1998.0406}}</ref>

Inland seas and lakes generally moderate a region's climate through humidification, regulation of thermal energy, and peri-winter [[albedo effects]].<ref name="https">{{cite journal |last1=McDermid |first1=Sonali Shukla |last2=Winter |first2=Jonathan |date=December 2017 |title=Anthropogenic forcings on the climate of the Aral Sea: A regional modeling perspective |journal=Anthropocene |volume=20 |pages=48–60 |doi=10.1016/j.ancene.2017.03.003|bibcode=2017Anthr..20...48M }}</ref> Loss of water in the Aral Sea has changed surface temperatures and wind patterns. This has led to a broader annual temperature range (about a 4 to 12 °C broadening) and more dust in storms locally and regionally.<ref name="https" />

===Biology===
The Aral Sea fishing industry, which at its peak employed some 40,000 and reportedly produced one-sixth of the Soviet Union's entire fish catch, has been devastated. In the 1980s commercial harvests were becoming unsustainable, and by 1987 commercial harvest became nonexistent. Due to the declining sea levels, salinity levels became too high for the 20 native fish species to survive. The only fish that could survive the high-salinity levels was flounder.  Also, as water has receded, former fishing towns along the original shores have become [[ship graveyard]]s.<ref name="Chen">{{cite news |last=Chen |first=Dene-Hern |date=16 March 2018 |title=Once Written Off for Dead, the Aral Sea Is Now Full of Life |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/north-aral-sea-restoration-fish-kazakhstan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316062314/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/north-aral-sea-restoration-fish-kazakhstan/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 March 2018}}</ref>

[[Aral, Kazakhstan|Aral]], originally the main fishing port, is now about 15 kilometres from the sea and has seen its population decline dramatically since the beginning of the crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71781 |title=Kazakhstan: Measuring the Northern Aral's Comeback |last=Bland |first=Stephen M. |date=27 January 2015 |work=EurasiaNet |access-date=19 September 2017}}</ref> The town of [[Moynaq]] in Uzbekistan had a thriving harbour and fishing industry that employed about 30,000 people;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/reallives_3304.html |title= Uzbekistan: Moynaq village faces the Aral Sea disaster |publisher= [[UNICEF]] |access-date= 1 May 2010 |archive-date= 10 March 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170310014357/https://www.unicef.org/ceecis/reallives_3304.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> now it lies 30–90 kilometres from the shore. Fishing boats lie scattered on the dry dusty land that was once covered by water; many have been there for 20 years.

The South Aral Sea remains too saline to host any species other than [[halotolerant]] organisms.<ref>Aladin et al. 2018, p. 2234.</ref> The South Aral has been incapable of supporting fish since the late 1990s, when the flounder were killed by rising salinity levels.<ref name = "Ermakhanov 2012">Ermakhanov et al. 2012, p. 7.</ref>

Also destroyed is the [[muskrat]]-trapping industry in the deltas of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which used to yield as many as 500,000 pelts a year.<ref name="winse"/>

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:AralSeaModis.jpg|Aral Sea dust storm, March 2010
File:Aralship2.jpg|Abandoned ship near Aral, Kazakhstan
File:AralskHarbor.jpg|A former harbour in the city of Aral
File:Kazakh fisherman Aralsk.jpg|Local Kazakh fisherman harvesting the day's catch
</gallery>

===Vulnerable populations===
Local inhabitants are the most vulnerable population in this environmental health crisis due to the highly polluted and salinated water used for drinking and the dried seabed.<ref name="auto2">{{citation |last1=Ataniyazova |first1=Oral |title=3rd World Water Forum Regional Cooperation in Shared Water Resources in Central Asia Kyoto |year=2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220125226/http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/mckinney/ce385d/papers/atanizaova_wwf3.pdf |contribution=Health and Ecological Consequences of the Aral Sea Crisis |contribution-url=http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/mckinney/ce385d/papers/atanizaova_wwf3.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2018 |access-date=28 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Toxic chemicals associated with pesticide use have been found in blood and breast milk of mothers; specifically organochlorides, polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs), DDT compounds, and TCDD.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> These toxins can be, and often are, passed on to the children of these mothers, resulting in low birthweight and congenital abnormalities. The rate of infants being born with abnormalities is five times higher in this region than in European countries.<ref name="auto2"/> The Aral Sea region has 26% of its children born at low birthweight, which is two standard deviations away from a national population study gathered by the WHO.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Crighton |first1=Eric James |last2=Barwin |first2=Lynn |last3=Small |first3=Ian |last4=Upshur |first4=Ross |date=April 2011 |title=What have we learned? A review of the literature on children's health and the environment in the Aral Sea area |journal=International Journal of Public Health |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=125–138 |doi=10.1007/s00038-010-0201-0 |pmid=20976516 |pmc=3066395}}</ref>

Exposures to toxic chemicals from the dry seabed and polluted water have caused other health issues in women and children. Renal tubular dysfunction has become a large health concern in children in the Aral Sea region as it is showing extremely high prevalence rates. Renal tubular dysfunction can also be related to growth and developmental stunting.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaneko |first1=K |last2=Chiba |first2=M |last3=Hashizume |first3=M |last4=Kunii |first4=O |last5=Sasaki |first5=S |last6=Shimoda |first6=T |last7=Yamashiro |first7=Y |last8=Caypil |first8=W |last9=Dauletbaev |first9=D |date=4 March 2003 |title=Renal tubular dysfunction in children living in the Aral Sea Region |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood |volume=88 |issue=11 |pages=966–968 |doi=10.1136/adc.88.11.966 |pmid=14612357 |pmc=1719339}}</ref> This, in conjunction with the already high rate of low-birthweight children and children born with abnormalities, contributes to severe negative health effects and outcomes for children. These issues are compounded by the lack of research on maternal and child health effects caused by the demise of the Aral Sea. For example, only 26 English-language peer-reviewed articles and four reports on children's health were produced between 1994 and 2008.<ref name="auto"/> In addition, there is a lack of health infrastructure and resources in the Aral Sea region to combat the health issues that have arisen.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov">{{cite journal |last1=Small |first1=Ian |last2=van der Meer |first2=J |last3=Upshur |first3=Ross |date=1 June 2001 |title=Acting on an environmental health disaster: the case of the Aral Sea. |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=109 |issue=6 |pages=547–549 |doi=10.1289/ehp.01109547 |pmid=11445505 |pmc=1240333}}</ref>

There is a lack of medication and equipment in many medical facilities, so health professionals do not have access to the necessary supplies to do their jobs in the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan regions.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov"/> There is also meager development of a health information system that would allow for extensive research or surveillance of emerging health issues due to Aral Sea issues.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov"/> An absence of a primary care approach in the health systems of this region also hinders services and access that could prevent and treat issues stemming from the Aral Sea crisis, especially in women and children.<ref name="ehp.niehs.nih.gov"/>

The impoverished are also particularly vulnerable to the environmental and health related effects of changes to the Aral Sea. These populations were most likely to reside downstream from the Basin and in former coastal communities.<ref name="auto3">{{cite journal |last1=Peachey |first1=Everett |date=2004 |title=The Aral Sea Basin Crisis and Sustainable Water Resource Management in Central Asia |url=https://jpia.princeton.edu/sites/jpia/files/2004-1.pdf |journal=Journal of Public and International Affairs |volume=15 |pages=1–20}}</ref> They were also among the first to be detrimentally affected, representing at least 4.4 million people in the region.<ref name="auto3"/> Considered to have the worst health in this region, their plight was not helped when their fishery livelihoods vanished with the decreasing levels of water and loss of many aquatic species.<ref name="auto3"/> Thus, those in poverty are entrenched in a vicious cycle.