Where is the Aral Sea, and what are the reasons for the dramatic loss in surface area it has experienced over the last half century? Be certain to discuss the environmental implications of the vanishing of this body of water.
What will be an ideal response?
The Aral Sea is located in the western part of Central Asia, and is shared by both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The primary reason for the loss in its surface area is because the Aral Sea is dependent on rivers for its water because it is located in a semi-arid region. Ever increasing quantities of water is being drawn from those rivers, reducing the amount that enters the Aral Sea. The former Soviet Union engaged in grand agricultural schemes in which vast quantities of water was diverted from rivers that normally drain into the Aral Sea. Towns once located on the edge of the Aral Sea now are more than 40 miles from its shores. The exposure of the lake bed and its salts has allowed the wind to carry that salt vast distances, poisoning agriculture downwind and creating a host of public health issues. Because this is a shared resource, efforts to halt the damage to the Aral Sea must involve all the countries that contain the rivers that fill the Aral Sea, as well as the two countries in which the Sea is located.
You might also like to view...
Transform faults are typically found in regions where tectonic plate boundaries are moving parallel to one another, and are the site of frequent earthquakes. A good example of such a location is:
A. the San Andreas Fault. B. Iceland. C. the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. D. the Andes Mountains.
Which of the following does NOT cause metamorphism?
a) heating by magma b) a change in stress c) subduction d) shearing at depth e) any of these can cause metamophism
What is true about the Coriolis effect?
a. It is absent at the equator. b. It is strongest near the equator. c. It causes cold-core eddies in the Northern Hemisphere to rotate clockwise. d. It causes Northern Hemisphere surface currents to flow to the left of the wind direction. e. It causes the peak of the "hill" in the center of the gyre to be steeper on the eastern side.
In a greenhouse, a plant would be best positioned so that its exposure to sunlight would be
A) within its limits of tolerance. B) within its optimal range. C) at its zones of stress. D) at the photosynthetic limit.