If I understand the plan correctly, the plan is not to restore the Aral Sea but to transform the basin left in something less harsh planting salt resistant plants....
Pity that the world already gave up about its restoration...
I think Russia has like zero geological relevance in this matter, like they have zero rivers that can assist. The rivers that feed into the basin come from Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
What they could do is help bankroll restoration efforts.
5 different countries need to cooperate to revive the sea, 3 of which don't even border the sea and wouldn't benefit from it returning.
Yeah, this is a classic prisoner's dilemma, where draining the rivers benefits each individual country, so there is no incentive for self-sacrifice to restore the sea.
I am just curious how can Russia undo their mess as the SU when currently they, Russia, are not part of the five countries that control the fate of the rivers.
It's like one of those colonial era messes, Britain creates bs in a country and they pulled out of the country. Decades later that country is still fucked because of Britain's decisions but since they have left the country.
Back to Aral sea, same thingapart from giving money, I dont really see how Russia can do much because they no longer have any decision making powers in the five countries.
If you cut off the water to the cotton field, then the cotton farmers business will be destroyed, the national economy will be negatively impacted, I assume.
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The original publication date was September 17th, 2025.
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While it's unfortunate the lake is gone, there's often too much discussion that is premised off the assumption that restoration is always better. I think the correct way to approach the value of environment in its value to people, and very much weight up the tradeoffs between agricultural use and environmental restoration. This is not to say using water more efficiently is bad, it most certainly a good thing but will likely result in the water saved being used to expand agricultural production or other uses than restore the Aral Sea, at least for the foreseeable future.
If I understand the plan correctly, the plan is not to restore the Aral Sea but to transform the basin left in something less harsh planting salt resistant plants....
Pity that the world already gave up about its restoration...
The way to restore it would be to restore the rivers that used to flow into it that the Soviet Union diverted for irrigation projects in the 60's.
Sadly Russia is busy destroying other parts of the world ATM and can't prioritise it.
I think Russia has like zero geological relevance in this matter, like they have zero rivers that can assist. The rivers that feed into the basin come from Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
What they could do is help bankroll restoration efforts.
They diverted the Amu Darya & Syr Darya rivers that were the main source of the Aral Sea.
They could undo that.
How?
https://preview.redd.it/zfbpuaihsf7g1.png?width=1917&format=png&auto=webp&s=42ac8c95a4bed49344a6240c24bda785cea11e7d
Edit: Updated the map to show where the rivers are.
5 different countries need to cooperate to revive the sea, 3 of which don't even border the sea and wouldn't benefit from it returning.
Yeah, this is a classic prisoner's dilemma, where draining the rivers benefits each individual country, so there is no incentive for self-sacrifice to restore the sea.
I agree,
I am just curious how can Russia undo their mess as the SU when currently they, Russia, are not part of the five countries that control the fate of the rivers.
It's like one of those colonial era messes, Britain creates bs in a country and they pulled out of the country. Decades later that country is still fucked because of Britain's decisions but since they have left the country.
Back to Aral sea, same thingapart from giving money, I dont really see how Russia can do much because they no longer have any decision making powers in the five countries.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-aral-sea-before-the-streams-ran-dry-77193/
I'm not an expert, the details are there.
I am asking how can Russia influence other countries to undo their mess?
There are five countries that together can collectively influence the fate of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya
Russia is not one of those five countries.
If you cut off the water to the cotton field, then the cotton farmers business will be destroyed, the national economy will be negatively impacted, I assume.
That's why drip irrigation. If you reduce the amount of water needed to grown cotton, you can send the saved water to lake or reforestation program.
In deed, this is the plan
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While it's unfortunate the lake is gone, there's often too much discussion that is premised off the assumption that restoration is always better. I think the correct way to approach the value of environment in its value to people, and very much weight up the tradeoffs between agricultural use and environmental restoration. This is not to say using water more efficiently is bad, it most certainly a good thing but will likely result in the water saved being used to expand agricultural production or other uses than restore the Aral Sea, at least for the foreseeable future.
Extremely rare China W