Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Basin

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Dedication......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
CONTENTS......Page 7
CONTRIBUTORS......Page 8
INTRODUCTION......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 13
1 Sustainable development and creeping environmental problems in the Aral Sea region......Page 15
Introduction to the notion of creeping environmental problems......Page 18
Thresholds......Page 19
Why do CEPs continue?......Page 20
Creeping environmental problems in the Aral Sea basin......Page 22
EXPANSION OF COTTON ACREAGE......Page 23
SEA LEVEL DECLINE......Page 24
DECLINING WATER QUALITY IN THE RIVERS AND IN THE SEA......Page 25
DECLINE OF FISH POPULATIONS IN THE ARAL SEA......Page 26
INCREASES IN HUMAN DISEASES......Page 27
CRISIS AWARENESS......Page 30
Timely responses to CEPs: What can be done?......Page 33
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE ARAL SEA ANYWAY?......Page 35
Conclusion: Steps decision-makers can take now to encourage sustainable resource management in the Aral Sea basin......Page 36
References......Page 38
2 Ecological disaster linked to landscape composition changes in the Aral Sea basin......Page 40
Concluding comments......Page 51
References......Page 58
Background up to the twentieth century......Page 61
Events after 1900......Page 63
REGIONAL AND GOVERNMENT PLANNING......Page 67
Changes in the 1960s and 1970s......Page 69
REACTION TO THE PROBLEM......Page 71
Changes after the 1970s......Page 72
ACTION FOLLOWING REALIZATION OF THE CRISIS......Page 73
Present situation......Page 75
Conclusion......Page 77
References......Page 78
Scale of desertification......Page 80
Factors influencing desertification development......Page 81
Desertification in the delta plains of the Aral Sea region......Page 83
Stages of desertification development......Page 86
Development of desertification under eluvial conditions (1978–82)......Page 87
Development of desertification in combination with eluvial and waterlogging conditions (1983–95)......Page 89
Main stages of desertification development on the dried-out Aral Sea bottom......Page 91
Aerospace monitoring of desertification......Page 97
References......Page 99
Introduction......Page 100
CIRCULATION FACTORS OF CLIMATE CHANGE......Page 101
TRENDS OF ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION IN THE PERIOD OF THE ARAL SEA CRISIS......Page 103
CHANGES OF AIR TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION......Page 104
THE RELATIONSHIP OF TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION CHANGES TO CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION......Page 106
HUMAN-INDUCED CHANGES OF LOCAL CLIMATES......Page 107
Conclusion......Page 109
THRESHOLD 5: ACTION......Page 110
References......Page 112
Introduction......Page 114
Natural ecosystem stability......Page 118
Methods and techniques......Page 120
Changes in the Amudarya and Syrdarya deltas......Page 124
Changes in the tugai forest and bush ecosystems......Page 125
THRESHOLD 4......Page 130
Changes in meadow ecosystems......Page 131
Changes in bird populations......Page 133
The formation of natural complexes on the dry Aral seabed......Page 135
Zonal ecosystem changes along the main coast......Page 136
References......Page 139
Introduction......Page 142
Public health status of the Aral Sea coastal region......Page 143
Morbidity of population in the Aral Sea coastal region......Page 149
Dust–salt load on the environment......Page 157
On the realization of changes of medico-ecological situation in the Aral Sea coastal region......Page 161
On thresholds......Page 165
References......Page 168
8 The impact of political ideology on creeping environmental changes in the Aral Sea basin......Page 171
THE LENIN PERIOD (1917–1929)......Page 172
THE STALIN PERIOD (1930–1953)......Page 173
THE KHRUSHCHEV PERIOD (1954–1964)......Page 175
THE BREZHNEV PERIOD (1966–1985)......Page 179
THE PERIOD OF RESTRUCTURING AND PUBLIC ATTENTION (1985–91)......Page 188
Post-Soviet period: independence of the republics of Central Asia and the heritage of cotton self-sufficiency......Page 195
References......Page 202
9 Change of the rivers’ flow in the Aral Sea basin (in connection with the problem of quantitative assessment and…......Page 205
References......Page 215
10 Fish population as an ecosystem component and economic object in the Aral Sea basin......Page 218
References......Page 235
11 Creeping environmental changes in the Karakum Canal’s zone of impact......Page 239
Characterization of the Karakum Canal......Page 241
STAGE II. THE MURGAB-TEDJEN SECTION......Page 242
CEP in the canal zone......Page 243
CEPs in irrigation regions......Page 250
References......Page 257
12 Environmental changes in the Uzbek part of the Aral Sea basin......Page 259
References......Page 274
13 Creeping changes in biological communities in the Aral Sea......Page 275
References......Page 292
INDEX......Page 297