Caspian Sea Levels Dropping Drastically, Endangering Kazakh Water Supplies

The Caspian Sea's surface level is falling and it's receding rapidly from its former shores, putting large populations in Kazakhstan at risk. A decommissioned nuclear power station is also vulnerable. Climate change and upstream diversions are driving the crisis, experts say.
Originally published at - www.rferl.org/...

[@maineusaMax]

If you look at satellite imagery from 10 years ago until now, it's drastic.

[@deanfirnatine7814]

The Caspian historically is notorious for huge increases and decreases, go to near Baku and you can see ancient buildings partially submerged from when the sea level was lower. The Russian dams are 75%+ of this current issue just like they were for the almost gone Aral Sea.

[@maxruedy951]

Ruzzia with their idiocy has already dried up one of the biggest inland lakes in the world,they won't mind drying up the Caspian Sea either.

[@byzer1]

Just like the US dried up the Colorado River and México gets few or no water, how dare they do that

[@levismith7444]

Russia does a good job of screwing up the environment

[@kill1spream2]

@@byzer1 Show Caspian Sea in North America you rtard

[@steven4315]

@@byzer1 By treaty, Mexico gets about 10% of Colorado River water. Another treaty governs the Rio Grande River.

[@DrLynch2009]

Aral sea 2.0

[@realkina84]

Unfortunately true

[@richardthomas598]

Yup

[@robertbate5790]

Not long before it becomes the Caspian Desert at the rate of climate change.

[@surfinoperator]

you can't only / always blame the nature or climate change for this.... Building dams doesn't help, just look it up....😢

[@typxxilps]

the damn would not be an issue cause in such case the water would be there just somewhere else behind the damn and would come back after you had conquered the territory while Russia is busy and can not really defend themselves on another front. But if it is not the damn that has caused the issues then things are quite different cause then the water is no longer available and gone - maybe forever like in all the other deserts.

[@RuleofFive]

The Soviet Union destroyed the Aral Sea shared by Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan with ill conceived engineering. So is it surprising that Russia is destroying another inland sea?

[@therealdohos2607]

the next "aral sea" once again because of russia

[@sciencetechnology9167]

They are Moscovia 🥱 Ruthenia is ancient name of Ukraine 🇺🇦

[@jebbrown2847]

The Caspian sea is drying up, but yet somehow ocean levels on the US coasts are supposed to rise 10-12" in the next 30 years?

[@error-mc5xw]

Caspian sea does not link to any Ocean. It receives water from rivers. Melting artics ice does not affect it.

[@nariman_alizada.]

Caspian sea has no connection to ocean, except fot some canals or river

[@richardthomas598]

Everyone else on Earth would be much better off if we just got rid of Russia.

[@BaumerPaulGefreiter]

Russia deliberately spreads environmental ignorance. It did a lot of damage this way..

[@typxxilps]

For sure not cause the indians and chinese which are about 2.5 billions are enjoying the low energy prices and will not complain. And the country would still be there, you can only get rid of the russian government but who knows if the new one would be better .

[@notanothershrubbery]

@@typxxilps Weaken it until it falls apart into its smaller parts. There is just one rail line that holds east to west.

[@TheGreenReaper]

@@notanothershrubbery Unfortunately they still have roads and planes as well (if not as many of the latter).

[@TheGreenReaper]

@@typxxilps Let them fall into anarchy, then after a few years they will come out as a republic and have a harder time declaring war due to the 50% chance of senate restrictions.

[@levismith7444]

Can imagine the salt storms you would get from a dried out Aral Sea and Caspian Sea

[@rec.thecritic]

Again evil is behind it

[@conniepr]

Don't wait until the sinking boat is full of water. The storms are now here.

[@louiscrasher]

just dig the canal trought black sea via chrogray reservoir, 5-10 years, 30m deep 400km to dig, it will refill the Caspian, you have to deal with russia tho

[@thefisherking78]

Scary

[@CanaldoFakeflip]

There are countless freshwater springs , most in private land! Just find a way to give people access to the springs and EVERYONE will have fresh high quality water. Our leaders want people to drink FLUORIDE , so they prevent prople from accessing the springs.

[@Ligma-Balls-69]

Well the Russians kept on F****ng with it!😢

[@danweber8382]

😢

[@navajyotichetia8968]

Receding caspian sea has a difficult solution for Kazakhstan- "cashpian" Solution! Deploy cash reserves to import water. But it seems these days something Russian is always conspiring against the best interests of everybody else in Europe

[@JPREEDY77]

The Caspian Sea will lose most of the water it has left. There will be some retained but is likely to dry up into multiple brine lakes.

[@HunterShows]

Just humanity's next toxic waste dump.

[@jdilksjr]

So, we have newish dams upriver and we have over fishing. Not climate change. Excessive use by Russia.

[@behavior852]

Well there's a switch, everywhere else the Sea levels are rising. WTF?!

[@Derhone]

I was a kid when they said, the Caspian sea totally dried, that was 25 years ago. Its just strange because I seeing the completely same news now

[@chuckwhitson654]

Looks like a repeat of the sea of azov

[@phild3936]

I think you mean the Aral Sea (what rests of it).

[@therealdohos2607]

what an idiot xD

[@justin-kurtgurel6829]

Build a link from black sea 😂😮

[@abrahamdozer6273]

The whole Mediterranean basin is drying up.

[@JG-mp5nb]

You can count on Russia to do exactly the wrong thing in this case.

[@gregsscubavids5128]

Time to blow some Russian dams.

[@darrenquarterman2611]

It’s ok Ice caps will melt fill it back up

[@realkina84]

The Caspian see is an intracontinental basin, not connected to the oceans. Hence any increase ocean level doesn’t affect the Caspian see. Look it up a geographic map .

[@bobjohnbowles]

I don't know if you have noticed, but the Caspian is an _inland_ sea. Just look at a map before you post.

[@HubertofLiege]

Melting icecaps from warmer temperatures will cause it to rain in the basin filling it back up.

[@marcusott2973]

​@@HubertofLiegethat is extremely hypothetical nonsense

[@sciencetechnology9167]

Казахи хватит пить воду 😂 уже море выпили 😢 В чем смысл новости? Что они предлагают? 2:01

[@gothicpagan.666]

Not to worry, when the ice caps melt, balance will be restored

[@jdilksjr]

Not to worry, when the huge glaciers come back everyone can move back to the edge of the continents onto fresh land.

[@marcusott2973]

The Caspian sea has no connection to the world's oceans, that's an F in geography for you.

[@gothicpagan.666]

@@marcusott2973 Does that mean the frow rate of the feed rivers has slowed? The Volga has to get it's source at least partly from the waters around Norway

[@drbendover7467]

And yet climate change alarmists go on about sea level rises swelling islands lol;)

[@dpharr100]

They're trying to predict lake levels 80 years in the future? All the people making these predictions will probably be dead in 80 years

[@typxxilps]

no not really , they try to paint a picture when it would be empty cause what would you think when someone tells you 30 m lower level in 2050 ? Who knows if that would be much or not, but coming from the past how it had been in the 60s and therefore 60 years ago it can open the eyes a bit more.

[@lakeratatouille]

This opens my eyes to Russian involvement. They're the ones taking the water

[@dillamadukes21]

Having environmental models to predict a range of futures for a body of water that millions of lives are dependant on is prudent. Offsetting something so existential to future generations to deal with instead of addressing the causes of the damage in the present would be shockingly negligent. Losing the Ariel was traumatic enough for the region.

[@YouWillRecycle]

Contains 3.5 times the amount of water in the 5 Great Lakes combined. I think the region will be just fine for many generations.

[@marcusott2973]

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@mike4480]

…….”I think that the region will be just fine for many generations “ … something like what the 🇷🇺 scientists and engineers said about the Aral Sea … just after they F… it up …

[@88997799]

But but but ocean levels are rising!! 😂😂😂

[@adoatero5129]

Yes, the ocean levels are rising. You seem to suggest that there’s a contradiction. The Caspian Sea isn’t connected to world's oceans in any way, so whatever changes happen to the levels of the oceans doesn’t affect the Caspian Sea. The emojis at the end of your comment have tears in their eyes because you didn’t check the basic facts of the subject before writing such an allusive comment...

[@marcusott2973]

​@@adoatero5129only the universe and human stupidity are infinite. 😂😂😂😂