VOA科学技术2024--Climate Change Fueling Disappearance of Central Asia’s Aral Sea

Climate Change Fueling Disappearance¹ of Central Asia’s Aral Sea

　　Climate change is quickening the disappearance of the Aral Sea. Once a single body of water, the lake now exists in pieces in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Many years ago, it was one of the world's largest inland bodies of water. But, that changed substantially over the last century. The Aral has shrunk to less than 25 percent of its former size.

　　Engineering projects and agricultural programs are to blame for much of the lake's early losses. Now, climate change is adding to the destruction. Summers in the area are longer and hotter. Winters are shorter and colder. The area lacks water supplies. And experts say much of the water that does exist is too salty to support plant life.

　　History and loss

　　The Aral is fed by rivers that heavily depend on glacial melt. For many years, it held many fish, supporting a fishing industry.

　　The area brought in thousands of migrants for jobs in the past, also. Today, a few remaining towns sit quiet along the Aral's dry seabed. Dust storms often pass through.

　　In the 1920s, the Soviet² government began to empty the sea to provide water to crops like cotton. By the 1960s, it was half its former size. By 1987, the Aral's level was so low it divided into two bodies of water: the northern and southern seas.

　　The United Nations Development Program calls the destruction of the Aral Sea "the most staggering³ disaster of the 20th century." It points to the Aral's loss as the cause of desertification, drinking water shortages⁴, and worsening health conditions, among others.

　　National governments, international aid organizations, and local efforts have made attempts to save the sea, including dams and plant growth projects. But experts say climate change has only quickened the dying of the Aral, and will continue to worsen local peoples' suffering.

　　Loss of life

　　The loss of much of the Aral Sea caused dust storms to blow through towns. They spread toxic⁵ chemicals from a former weapons testing center and farms into the lungs and eyes of local peoples. The U.N. says this has increased rates of diseases related to breathing and cancer.

　　A U.N. report says dust storms, rising world temperatures, and wind are destroying the glaciers⁷ on which the feeder rivers depend. The remaining water is getting saltier and evaporating⁸ faster.

　　The report warns that melting ice and changing river flows may further cause problems for water supply and food supply. Hydropower plants could suffer.

　　Differences along the Aral

　　In Uzbekistan, Adilbay and his friends fish in the Aral's remaining waters. The fish are small and few.

　　The 62-year-old holds his arms wide to demonstrate how big the Aral fish used to be. "Now there is nothing," he said.

　　As the water disappeared, a nearby fish processing plant closed. Adilbay's friends and relatives moved to Kazakhstan looking for new jobs.

　　There, fisherman Serzhan Seitbenbetov and others find success. In an hour, he caught a hundred fish, some 2 meters long.

　　"Now all the villagers make good money being fishermen," he said.

　　That is the result of an $86 million dam project led by Kazakhstan, with assistance from the World Bank. It was completed in 2005.

　　Known as the Kokaral Dam, it saves and gathers water from the Syr Darya River. The dam performed better than expected, leading to an increase of over 3 meters in water levels after seven months.

　　That helped restore local fisheries and caused an increase in clouds and rainstorms in the local area, the World Bank says. Population grew.

　　But it could not replicate⁹ life before the water started drying up, said Sarah Cameron. She is a professor at the University of Maryland who is writing a book about the Aral.

　　"It does not support the same amount of people and the fishing industry in the same way," Cameron said.

　　Uzbekistan's restoration efforts have been mixed in success. The government has not undertaken large projects like the Kokaral. Instead, the country planted trees and other plants to help prevent erosion¹⁰ and slow dust storms.

　　The discovery of oil and natural gas in the Aral's former seabed led to the building of gas production sites. Experts say that shows that Uzbekistan has little interest in restoration..

　　Kate Shields is a professor of environmental studies at Rhodes College in the American state of Tennessee.

　　"While there has been some restoration," she said, "there was a sort of acceptance that ... the sea was not coming back."

　　Government officials from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan did not answer questions from the Associated Press about restoration efforts, the lack of water, and the effects of climate change.

　　Words in This Story

　　glacier⁶ – n. a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land

　　evaporate¹¹

　　staggering – adj. very large, shocking, or surprising

　　replicate – v. to repeat or copy (something) exactly

　　restoration – adj. the act or process of returning something to its original condition by repairing it or cleaning it

　　erosion – n. the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice)

1 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 staggering   

a.惊人的

参考例句：

• Why is that man staggering about the room like that? 那人为什么那样摇摇晃晃地在屋里走来走去？
• Profits have shot up by a staggering 25%. 利润惊人地攀升了25%。

4 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

6 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

7 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

8 evaporating   

adj.蒸发用的，蒸发作用的v.（使某物）蒸发掉( evaporate的现在分词 )；消失，不复存在；使脱水

参考例句：

• She went on separating, bolting, evaporating, filtering and mixing. 她不断地进行分离、熬煮、蒸发、滤清、调制。 来自辞典例句
• You transfer the solution to an evaporating basin. 转移溶液至一蒸发皿中。 来自辞典例句

9 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

10 erosion   

n.腐蚀，侵蚀，磨损，削弱，减少

参考例句：

• The erosion of beach here is serious.这里海岸的腐蚀很严重。
• Drought and soil erosion had long been a major problem.干旱和水土流失一直是个老大难问题。

11 evaporate   

vi.蒸发，挥发，消失；vt.使蒸发，使挥发

参考例句：

• Clearly,the star wars problem was not going to evaporate.显然，星球大战问题并没有不了了之。
• It will evaporate like a spirit.它将来总要像幽灵一样化成云烟。