Central Asia’s land resources are facing mounting pressure from degradation caused by extreme weather conditions, rapid rates of warming, systemic resource management errors, and high rates of urbanization. More than 80 million hectares—over a quarter of the region’s land area, or roughly four times the size of Kyrgyzstan—are already degraded, according to the authors of the … [Read more...]
A new ecosystem has emerged on the dried seabed of the Aral Sea
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Aral Sea was the largest lake in Central Asia (Fig. 1). Starting from the second half of this century, as a result of the drying up of the sea, a new desert ecosystem—the Aralkum Desert—was formed at its bottom (Fig. 2). This area is currently considered one of the largest anthropogenic desert ecosystems in Central Asia. As a result of … [Read more...]