The level of the Caspian Sea is decreasing very fast. According to scientists, by the year 2100, the water level of this reservoir may drop by 30 meters.
The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on our planet. Its complex coastline is more than 6400 kilometers long. Five countries have access to this reservoir: Kazakhstan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkmenistan. Sturgeons live in the lake, whose meat is appreciated all over the world for its taste. This reservoir is an important economic point due to the presence of large oil fields at its bottom.
The Caspian Sea also influences the climate of this arid region with rainfall in Central Asia. Unfortunately, since the mid-1990s, the area of the reservoir has been decreasing, scientists have observed that the rate of its decline has increased significantly since 2005, reports CNN.
Climate crisis and its impact on the Caspian Sea
Dams, over-extraction of raw materials, pollution and the growing human climate crisis are drying it up, writes CNN. Some experts fear that the Caspian Sea is not at the point of return. The rate of decrease of the lake level is very fast.
People don't have to look far to see what the future holds. The Aral Sea, located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once one of the largest lakes in the world, but has almost disappeared due to human activity and the worsening climate crisis.
As CNN writes, over thousands of years, the Caspian Sea has had good and bad cycles, which were related to the global average temperature and degree of ice. However, during the last few decades, the rate of reduction of its surface area has accelerated.
Vali Kaleji, an expert on Central Asia and the Caucasus at the University of Tehran, told CNN that Russia has built 40 dams and 18 more are under construction, reducing the flow of water into the Caspian Sea.
Satellite image of the Caspian Sea taken on September 20, 2006 by NASA
Satellite photo of the Caspian Sea taken on September 19, 2022 by NASA
Severe decrease in water level
The water level of the Caspian Sea is decreasing, which, according to scientists, is mainly influenced by climate change.
– The water level in the Caspian Sea has been decreasing since the mid-1990s and has accelerated significantly since 2005, said Matthias Prange, a scientist at the University of Bremen in Germany, in an interview with CNN. He added that according to his calculations, the water level in the reservoir will drop by 8-18 meters by the end of the century. – It will depend on how much the world reduces air pollution from fossil fuels, – he added.
Another study shows that the water level may drop to 30 meters by 2100. “Even under optimistic global warming scenarios, the lower part of the Caspian Sea, mainly near Kazakhstan, will disappear completely,” said Joy Singaraer, professor of paleoclimatology at the University of Reading and co-author of 2021. paper
The Caspian Sea is located in a region that has experienced a lot of political instability and is divided between five countries, each of which will feel its decline in different ways. – No country is to blame, but if they do not take joint measures, there may be a repeat of the Aral Sea disaster, Kaleji said. – There is no guarantee that the Caspian Sea will return to its natural state. It may never recover, he added.
CNN, earthobservatory.nasa.gov
Main image credit: NASA
