Your Green Review

All over the world waterways have been impacted by cash crop farming. With samples routinely testing positive for one or more pesticides or pesticide degredates, many water sources are now so contaminated they’re no longer fit for consumption. Among the top contributors to water pollution, cotton has been singled out as one of the dirtiest cash crops around; it’s potential to literally change the face of the future is exemplified in the depletion of the Aral Sea in what’s been called ‘the greatest environmental catastrophe ever recorded’.

Once the fourth largest inland sea on Earth, the Aral Sea began rapidly receding after heavy irrigation for cotton farming during the 60’s. In an effort to jump on the ‘white gold’ bandwagon, the Soviets diverted the Aral Sea’s two major water sources to grow cotton in the desert. Now a mere 10% of its original size, it’s become the source of a large scale health and environmental crisis in Central Asia (Wikipedia).

Pesticide runoff (predominantly from cotton farming) freely entered the sea for decades, becoming increasingly concentrated as it settled on the sea floor. Now remobilized due to dropping water levels and exposed sediment, these chemicals have been carried as far away as the Arctic in toxic dust storms (The New York Times). Concentrated salt and pesticide content in both air and water is believed to be the cause of the area’s Tuberculosis epidemic and unusually high rates of esophageal cancer-the highest in the world today (BBC News). All in all, 20 million people suffer from diseases resulting from the hazardous conditions in the Aral region (The Red Cross).

Aside from the direct impact on human health, the effects of the Aral Sea’s depletion have been tremendous. The collapse of the fishing industry has heavily influenced the local economy and contributes to the continuing food shortages. Compounding this problem is the loss of climate regulation which has lead to dwindling growing seasons. The large body of water used to moderate temperatures throughout the year but today, shorter summers and longer winters have decreased the growing season to approximately 170 days, 30 days short of what’s needed for cotton production (Red Cross).

Yet the situation is not hopeless. Reports in June stated that after decades of shrinking, the Aral Sea has experienced some growth. It’s estimated that within 20-30 years it could reach its pre-1960 size if, among other measures, irrigation canals are improved and low impact farming is practiced (Wikipedia).

The Aral Sea disaster has shown us, if nothing else, that industrial development without regard to the environmental implications of our actions can have devastating effects not only on local ecology but on overall quality of life for millions. Togian Ibragimoys, an area deputy mayor, gave this warning in fear that we could see another ‘Aral Sea disaster’; “It could happen again…No one looked scientifically at what changing farming methods here would do. It could easily happen again. Human beings can be very stupid”. Certainly food for thought.

Read More:

Wikipedia. The Aral Sea (Wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea

The Red Cross. “Aral Sea Ecological Disaster Causes Humanitarian Crisis” (Article)

http://www.redcross.org/news/in/asia/020410aral.html

Environmental Justice Foundation. “White Gold-The True Cost of Cotton” (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n39T35Ia_4

AralSeaInfo.com. (Website)

http://www.aralseainfo.com/data/

University of California. Interactive Map of the Aral Sea (Map)

http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/aral_map.html