How the USSR Wiped a Sea Off the Map

[@Faultlinevideos]

Hey guys thanks for checking out this video. Just want to issue a correction about one of our map animations. At 5:27 & 7:56 we mistakenly show a map of the Russian Empire when discussing the USSR. We failed to spot this issue in the edit, of this video.

[@listener-kv8rr]

No problem.

[@Suchtel10]

The title of your video should be "How the Soviet Union drained a Sea" because Russia as we know it today never controlled this area.

[@RWBHere]

Your title is incorrect. The Soviet Union drained the Arab Sea. Russia did not, except by it being the centre of power for the USSR.

[@eldromedario3315]

Dimwit, read the comments. Correct the title, russia didn't exist at that time !

[@PersimmonHurmo]

here in central asia we have not forgotten, my grandmother told me there was so much fish back then that would feed the entire region, that has been stolen from us

[@horyzengaming3935]

The lake and fish is not something that someone owns, so therefore it cannot be stolen. Nature is not there to make humans profit or food. I feel sorry for the wildlife that has gone but i am also happy that the Aral sea nature is not continually being raped by humans.

[@216-i6p]

​@@horyzengaming3935 vegetarian?

[@TheRealMaxdestroyer]

@@horyzengaming3935 so if i rip up your lawn I'm not stealing grass but raping the nature in your lawn yea totally makes sense.

[@johnmindson237]

Since 1991 there is no Soviet Union, the Aral Sea started to dry up starting with 2001, 10 years later. Especially in 2005 the drying started to get noticeable. My question is. How is Russia or the Soviet Union at fault, if since 1991 the states were free to decide what to do with the water and the drying started for real in 2005? Also to note: Soviet Union had politicians from many regions, not only Russians, many Ukrainians included.

[@everett_fex]

5:34 - wow, how did Poland and Finland become a part of the USSR?

[@everett_fex]

​@@AxelMimosayes he did, but in that part of the video he clearly said "The Soviet Union". Maybe he just forgot to make a different map of the USSR - its definitely less in size than the Russian Empire

[@Faultlinevideos]

This is an editing mistake on our part. Apologies for the confusion here.

[@everett_fex]

@@Faultlinevideos it's okay, still liked your video!

[@AnalGravey]

The soviet union helped the Nazis during ww2

[@sloglas]

@@Faultlinevideos Russia? Maybe Soviet Union.

[@John_Weiss]

Those 2 rivers that fed the Aral Sea? You know what feeds those rivers? Glaciers and snows in the Tien Shan mountains. You know where that snow came from? Mainly from the clouds that evaporated from … the Aral Sea. Not many clouds get that far inland to replenish losses [because some of that snow in the mountains is going to run into rivers flowing _east,_ away from the Aral Sea watershed, too]. The Soviet Union disrupted a closed-system. Now, the people using the waters of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya are living on relic-water that's not going to last forever, and will take _millennia_ to restore. The water _will_ run out. And then, those countries that have continued to drain the Amu & Syr Darya will turn into giant sandboxes. Classic case of killing the goose that laid the golden [cotton] eggs.

[@HowlingWolf518]

Note that Kazakhstan has tried to keep their part of the Aral - so far it's kind of working. Uzbekistan OTOH has doubled down on the Soviet-era cotton exports, and now they're stuck with a dust bowl.

[@John_Weiss]

@@HowlingWolf518 And they're going to lose those cotton-exports when the glaciers go. Which they will - they're "fossilized water", accumulated over _thousands upon thousands_ of years from snow storms that managed to last long enough to cross north Asia. Those are rare, so the water in those glaciers took a long time to build. All of the water going into growing that cotton? It's not coming back.

[@HowlingWolf518]

@@John_Weiss I'm simply explaining the two countries' plans. I never said Uzbekistan's was a _good_ plan.

[@johnmindson237]

Since 1991 there is no Soviet Union, the Aral Sea started to dry up starting with 2001, 10 years later. Especially in 2005 the drying started to get noticeable. My question is. How is Russia or the Soviet Union at fault, if since 1991 the states were free to decide what to do with the water and the drying started for real in 2005? Also to note: Soviet Union had politicians from many regions, not only Russians, many Ukrainians included.

[@John_Weiss]

@johnmindson237 Ummm… I saw a program about the drying up of the Aral Sea _in _*_1989_*_ in West Germany._ And the problem was known about even before then. Apparently, Suicide Scientists raised concerns during the _late 1960s_ that diversion of water from the Amu & Syr Darya [sp?] Rivers could disrupt the hydrological cycle and cause the level of the Aral Sea to drop.

[@mlchallenges9043]

I can't. believe I did not know about the Aral sea! The fourth largest lake in the world has almost completley dissapeared!!! Humans effect on the planet can be so big and in such short time periods!! Really shocking.. Another fantastic documentary however, the story was told so well, Andy and the Faultline guys you should be proud!!

[@lornamackay4069]

@mlchallenges9043 Except for confusing Russia with the Soviet Union!

[@patrickuotinen]

7:57 You have coloured Finland being part of the Soviet Union. Just to inform you, we were part of the Russian Empire as an autonomous grand duchy till 1917, but we NEVER were part of the Soviet Union.

[@philipalcazar]

ha - I remember creating a video on this topic. My jaw dropped when I learned about the Soviets taking nature transformation to the next level. There were even plans to nuke(!) arctic rivers in order to refill the Aral Sea!

[@Faultlinevideos]

😳

[@everett_fex]

@@philipalcazar yeah, and they were also trying to reverse some important rivers in Siberia to fix the Aral Sea problem. Soviets were really into transforming nature just for the sake of industrialization

[@littleguy7773]

Yeah after the invention of the atomic bombs the American and Soviet governments looked into uses beyond warfare trump cards and considered economic possibilities and terraforming was at the of the list

[@CliffCardi]

Back in the 1960’s some Soviet climatologist called the Aral Sea “a useless evaporator” and claimed nothing bad would happen by diverting water to the cotton fields.

[@CliffCardi]

@@yyyy12344 Alexandr Voeikov was his name. My mistake, he died in 1916, but his writings did influence the Soviets.

[@CliffCardi]

@rkwsia For a worse disaster, look at "The Great Leap Forward". Mao Zedong ordered ordinary families to produce industrial-sized quotas of steel in their own backyards. You can imagine how well that went.

[@PersimmonHurmo]

​@rkwsiathat is called overexploiting the resources of a region and leaving when you've sucked everything dry

[@logank444]

To have a beautiful inland sea with beaches and fishing to a toxic mess. Insane how people can destroy something beautiful. I live in Michigan we came close to destroying the Great Lakes

[@rims4297]

++++

[@MTTT1234]

I recently read an article somewhere, that the two countries with the contributary rivers also had renovated the canals that were taking waters from the rivers. When they were constructed decades ago, they apparently were not built that well, not truly watertight, so a ton of water was seeping from the canals into the environment, so they would take out even more water so that it would reach the cotton fields. Now that these canals have been made much more water proof so that less water had to be taken from the rivers, and new irrigation techniques in the cotton fields have been applied as well, all in an effort to prevent water wastage. And if I recall from the article, the amount of water in what was left of the lake increased from 2% of the original lake content to 3%. Or something along those lines, I cannot recall 100% the article I read there.

[@aye3678]

Very interesting. First time hearing about the Aral lake/sea.

[@Smonserratm]

Well, it wasn't Russia then. The Soviet Union started it. When the Union fell, the Aral Sea had shrunk, but it was still recognisable. There was an opportunity to revert the damage, but Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have done little to nothing. Russia has nothing to do with this.

[@Matt-bp5vy]

I saw at least three videos about that sea but this one is by far the best one in the only one that explained the future the future might be a little bit brighter

[@lolfert]

Good content, very informative

[@scottcarmichael805]

Thank you for the history lesson

[@philipspencer1834]

How the Soviet Union drained the Aral Sea….. not Russia.

[@hanisrosli5484]

Like a same person but just change name,still same person😊only the attitude are change or not depend the person after n before😊

[@vasopel]

@@hanisrosli5484 hm...and what if that person loses his hands and feet?

[@фийкё]

Uzbekistan* 80% of the lake drought after the collapse of the Union. It's pathetic how silly you're, just sorry.

[@AISOSAOSIFO-ud7ff]

Your videos are great!

[@dainoro1142]

Great video!

[@konplayz]

The USSR*

[@michaelporter6341]

Not Russia

[@urnewboy1]

@@michaelporter6341ussr was russia

[@AbdijalilKodirov]

Thank you

[@raymondperez2972]

The lake will never come back to its full life again the people moving back there thinking they will return to a life of fishing again are only on borrowed time.

[@aitorbleda8267]

If they export the fish at least they will also be exporting the salts those fish contain, so salinity should slowly decrease

[@HarvestStore]

Great video.

[@pattobyo]

After watching realifelore's video a while back, I was wondering what new perspectives I would gain from this video. I wasn't let down! Faultline's ability to but a human spin on any story is quite remarkable!

[@rims4297]

Это было по величине на 4 месте в мире. Самое потрясающее море в мире. Ради хлопка перекрыли дамбы Амударьи и Сырдарьи чтоб не поступала вода. Этим они подписали смертный приговор. Уничтожили такую красоту, сейчас сколько туристов туда ездило бы, это же лучше чем Малибу и Майами бич тысячу раз. Аральское море навсегда в моём серде. Я больше чем уверен Арал не вернётся, невозможно уже. Нет корней море уже после высыхания. Надеюсь мир будет об этом говорить как пример, зла человеческих рук. Как человек может загубить всё.

[@rims4297]

Зла просто не хватает, как можно перекрыть воды которая поступала в море. Вам что блть место больше не хватало? Вообще своём уме власти Ссср были? Где вы такое ещё в мире видели, чтоб целое море ради хлопка осушили.

[@nmdreams86]

Not just any but the 4th largest. It's just mind-boggling to look at the state of it now. . .

[@theOGabcduong]

3 seconds in, the video mentioned it is the 4th largest.... watch video first pls....

[@nmdreams86]

@@theOGabcduong man I know that, I wrote it in the first place opon seeing that actually. And by now yes I have watched the whole video.

[@gendalfgray7889]

communists ruin everything

[@MrMeriloto]

Wrong!! If anything, Soviet Union, NOT “Rusia”.

[@aitorbleda8267]

Went to comments to say this.

[@JeroenJA]

after all this time putin, is it still really difference?? russia seems to only see itself as the remainder of the soviet union, and putin war is about 'restoring' it ..

[@JeroenJA]

he says later : the russian empire feel in .. leading to the rise of the sovjet union, so the conquest and starting of mass explotation for cotton started even before ;)

[@CAEgerius]

It would be more accurate to say USSR than Russia. It was soviet style policies that lead to the collapse.

[@CoiboiXD]

The USSR had been called Russia or Soviet Russia even during the time of the USSR.

[@CAEgerius]

@@CoiboiXD Nevertheless, the distinction should be made in academic fairness.

[@CoiboiXD]

@@CAEgerius even in academics thats a thing, especially in history, both terms are used, what are you even trying to do lmao?

[@CAEgerius]

@@CoiboiXD Distinctions are made, because facts matter. What I am aiming for is accuracy. This is very important especially in an age where people parrot things they listen to on social media and then take them as fact; often to an unhealthy level of narrow minded obstinate thinking despite only possessing a cursory understanding of the events or situations. It's that simple.

[@darkmatter5424]

This was an OBVIOUS attempt to further malign a country they despise. Ironic how Ukrainians made up most of the Soviet leadership.😅

[@Chichi-sl2mq]

I find it sad how a country would choose short term money over generational stability. Well done to the North Aral Sea.

[@lornamackay4069]

Unfortunately countries all over the world have done so and continue to do so. We humans tend to be very short-sighted, and often allow our greediest people to make decisions that negatively affect the environment and future generations in their search for wealth.

[@LudicrousPlatypus]

What happened to the Aral sea is so depressing. I fear for people in Uzbekistan.

[@NuclearStrike]

Lol so many butthurt Russians in the comments. Face reality, the USSR was mainly Russia, without Russia there would be no USSR and central planning was also directed from Moscow, so yes Russia is largely responsible for this disaster, but of course it's not all their fault. The states that emerged after the collapse of the USSR are also largely to blame.

[@TiagoSeiler]

*Affecting more than 33 million people

[@tallmatch5866]

Correction: not to "make more money", but to provide the nation with clothes, gun powder and food. Thouse countries there grow a lot of vegetables and fruit

[@chadsimmons6347]

The story reminded me of an American song by John Anderson ( Seminole-Wind) play the tune, you will see (thankx-F.L)

[@koriuk5032]

"Look at this place... 40,000 people used to live in this town... now its a ghost town..."

[@TheLobohobo]

Klasse!

[@dusandragovic09srb]

Earth is not an object. It is infinite.

[@johnmindson237]

Since 1991 there is no Soviet Union, the Aral Sea started to dry up starting with 2001, 10 years later. Especially in 2005 the drying started to get noticeable. My question is. How is Russia or the Soviet Union at fault, if since 1991 the states were free to decide what to do with the water and the drying started for real in 2005? Also to note: Soviet Union had politicians from many regions, not only Russians, many Ukrainians included.

[@shiron9230]

So what does this have to do with Russia?

[@ILikeRockets]

because Russia bad

[@АртемийБондаренко-я9б]

​@@ILikeRocketswhy

[@krunomrki]

Why people dont try to do the same with Caspian sea? Its very big. And it has a lot of water. Not only that, but there is oil.

[@PTG44]

I hope you can make a video of the other Soviet exploits in Kazakhstan and other central Asian states.

[@yulo8987]

Please also make a one how these republics profited from being a part of the USSR.

[@PlayNowWorkLater]

Very well presented. Thank you for bringing this story to light

[@danielkurtovic9099]

It was not Russia, blame USSR. Baltic states and Ukraine was also part of USSR.

[@urnewboy1]

Baltic states were occupied against their will. Ussr was russia

[@J3dotgg]

5:30 and 2:05 map is going to piss some people off lol

[@algardadien4717]

Is that Johnny Harris??

[@bigjared8946]

All of this just to grow cotton in the desert. Truly sad.

[@williamlloyd3769]

You have to wonder why they haven’t lined canals and taken other actions to conserve water.

[@ashergoney]

Coffee, Green Coffee and Chocolate Free Flowing From Tea Plantations Getting Modernised and Global Tea Consumption Patterns Getting Better Understood By Tea Farmers In The Region. However Before 1980s Total Coffee and Chocolate Production Markets Were Only Limited To South America and Africas

[@Betleyman_7]

What has happened to the Aral sea is just one example of how humanity is globally destroying the environment on which it depends for survival.

[@deanwcampbell]

I was worried at the beginning of the video.. But now I know the fish are repopulated, the sea has been saved and everyone is coming back. 🤗 Thanks Russia!

[@loadingbmode7617]

Did he forget about vozrozhydenia island.

[@JVSfit23]

This is why Hemp is such an important crop that needs to be pushed so much more....

[@geoffsokoll-oh1gq]

So the communists were out of favor since 1992. Cotton is a cash crop. So, to raise cash, you grow cotton. So it seems that capitalism only cares about short term gains and to with the radical environmentalists. Here in the Tennessee Valley we know about cotton. . My great grandfather owned a cotton gin, one of dozens in the county. Now, there is one operating. We learned to go other things. Central Asia hasn't. Blaming the USSR for the fact you haven't tried to fix this for 40 years isn't a good starting point.

[@Chainereight]

for an communist country, being so in love with money that you would drain an large lake to make cash is awesome. makes the colonial american south look like a progressive state.

[@jcdenton9969]

The Combine need resources.

[@ramblingrob4693]

2700 ltrs of water for a T shirt OMG

[@nullc0ntext]

Omce knew a Jewish gangster by the name of "White Gold" at one time. Dude was more kosher than Manischewitz.

[@alterbart7916]

Only it was not Russia. It was the USSR, and not a drop of that water was taken by Russia.

[@asilkhan4641]

It was taken by imperialist russians. They are still alive living in russia.

[@urnewboy1]

Ussr was russia

[@alterbart7916]

@@urnewboy1 No, the USSR was 15 republics, Russia one of them. Three of the country leaders were Georgian (Stalin), and two Urkanians (Khrichev and Breznev). Aral sea disaster was clearly a local thing. Russian Federation at the time was considering turning some of the Siberian rivers to flow to south to feed the Aral sea. It would have happened if the country did not engage in Afghanistan affair.

[@urnewboy1]

@@alterbart7916​​⁠lots of yapping but not much said. USSR was Russia and a bunch of countries it occupied by force. It was not a “union” as no country joined it on its own, every single one was invaded and taken by force. Before USSR it was the russian empire and after USSR we got just russia but it’s the same country, same people & same fukked up ruzzki mentality. Disgusting nation, always have been and always will be

[@poetmaggie1]

A lake is destroyed, has the Climate changed in the area? Is the change positive or negative? I am not talking about money, I am talking about Natural effects coming from the actions of Humans.

[@darkmatter5424]

So it's USSR when it's good but Russia when it's bad? Got it.

[@Chainereight]

"it's USSR when it's good" when has USSR ever been good

[@urnewboy1]

ussr or russia - same disaster

[@Jogie100]

This is what happens with bad governance. Voting matters. Fighting for the right to vote really matters

[@communist754]

The sea was drained after the dissolution of USSR, so it’s Kazakhstan who did most of the draining, not Russia.

[@nakkiibrks]

I came because of War Thunder

[@AgentTrust]

👍

[@benmcreynolds8581]

This gives me Saltan Sea Vibes.. More like the Stalan Sea am I right...? Jk This story is crazy. I've hardly seen it covered. The quality of your videos are insanely good. I really enjoy watching them.

[@littleguy7773]

I’m going to be that guy that suggests the aral sea wouldn’t have been in such a dire state if the ussr was never dissolved

[@littleguy7773]

God I hate nationalism

[@alvaroavilablanco3350]

I don't think I agree too much with that. The problem started with the idea of central planification and how the resourses of the USSR were arbitrarily use by its goverment without thinking on the effects of the local population and its territories.

[@lornamackay4069]

@@alvaroavilablanco3350 If you know much about Soviet governance, you would know that your statement is wrong. The central government, which included representatives from all the Soviet Republics, tried to make sure that the populations of the various localities benefited from the industries in their area. Part of the reason that some former Republics devolved into poverty after the break up was because the network of trade within and between the Republics was broken, and industries in the capitalist countries flooded traditional markets with their production, and/or blocked the newly separated countries from entering their markets.

[@alvaroavilablanco3350]

@@lornamackay4069 I never said I knew much about the central goverment of the USSR, I just repeated what the video said with the conclusions It draw from its investigation. Those conclusions been that the USSR decided It was a good idea to grow cotton in a very arid region. The theory of how goverments work (any kind) is pretty, but usually very far from the truth. I don't believe in the slightest that they worked to fulfill the necessities of the peripherical regions, because if that were the case then the water shortage and absurd growth on cotton production would have stopped far earlier. And for your last statement, althought flooding such a backwater market with modern good as the West did (knowingly) was very harmful, I would say that the falling of a system where huge parts of the countries wealth were at the expenses of bureaucrats who later run away with the money or hold it for themselves isn't great for a country. Is true that I don't know a lot from the USSR, these are just my opinions and conclusions from the video.

[@DT-wp4hk]

Ussr. Not Russia.

[@urnewboy1]

Ussr is russia

[@lordtea]

Sasuga human The most best and worst species in the world

[@deejosh965]

3rd comment? Pls pin it xddd

[@danielprw512]

It was the Soviet Union NOT Russia but ofc Videos like these have only one thing in mind: make us hate Russia.

[@PeidosFTW]

majority of the drying that happened, happened after the fall of the USSR

[@GREENLAND-m8c]

I'm happy they living a good life

[@emancoy]

In a non communist county, people would protest and social awareness can change the minds of the legislators. In a communist system, I don't know if it could happen too

[@lornamackay4069]

@emancoy - In a "non-communist" country, most people would not have protested, as they would have been aware of the short term economic benefits. It is only very recently that many people are aware of the fragility of the environment and need to protect it. And even then, many people will choose to allow the environment to be exploited and ruined if it is economically advantageous.

[@emancoy]

@@lornamackay4069in this video example, the people fishing in the lake thinks it's economically advantageous to lose their livelihood? In a non communist country, groups would have tried to spread awareness

[@yulo8987]

In a non communist country people are being brain-washed by the media in advance, giving them a plausible and "good" reason for some specific change. E.g. Germany is now willingly destroying its infrastructure for the nuclear energy (along with the economy), allegedly for the sake of the nature. Make people feel being on the "correct" side when selling them an idea and they will not protest.

[@johnmindson237]

Like it happened with Fukushima? Socialism or Capitalism have nothing to do with "society". If the internet existed back than, then people may have tried to spread awareness, regardless of the system in place, but as I said, even with internet in place no one removed Fukushima.

[@emancoy]

@@johnmindson237you really took a bad example there. what is it to spread awareness about Fukushima? There was a tsunami that hit the place leading to the disaster, it wasn't caused by years of neglect. Everyone already knows and the Japanese government did took action

[@RedXlV]

Russia and environmental catastrophe, name a more iconic pair.

[@lornamackay4069]

@RedXlV have you never heard of the USSR? Unfortunately, not many wealthy and powerful countries have escaped contributing to, if not actually causing, environmental disasters. Most of the time it is to benefit a few wealthy and greedy people, at least in the Soviet Union it was done with the intent to improve the lives of the people who lived in the region. Sadly, without enough knowledge of consequences for future generations.

[@lilestojkovicii6618]

Ah yes because none other country never polluted anything Your comment screams only propaganda pamphlet "Russia bad"

[@yulo8987]

Russia didn't drain anything.

[@slawawacker]

The Aral Sea dried up after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This has nothing to do with Russia. The Soviet Union consisted of several countries, not just Russia.

[@tthesweetestsinn]

"Soviet Union" is basically a Russian colonization project with Moscow being its metropolis. Even a 3 year old knows it.

[@HoundGrin]

His main idea was to show how evil Russia is, rather than to tell the story. Mentioning Russia in the title was not a mistake. He specifically sais that the power in the USSR was centralized in Moscow, to justify the move. And the whole video leaves an impression that when Russia had power in the region it was a disaster, but now when it's gone things are getting better. A more realistic view would be that many crazy things were made in the past, not only by Russia. Remember the Bikini islands or Nauru, for example. At that time humanity cared less about the consequences. Now they do and try to reverse them. Still the cotton production in the Central Asia have never gone away and you may well be wearing a t-shirt produced with 2700 liters of the water taken from the Aral sea. Does it make you an accomplice?

[@Chainereight]

@@HoundGrin whats this level of gymnastics, the bikini islands was the result of a desperate war with russia back when nuclear deterrent was still a problem, the Aral Sea stuff is just daily russian occurrence, if it were to happen in the US, mass protests and even riots burning would occur, if it were to happen in Russia, you would already be visited by a government commisar.

[@HoundGrin]

@@ChainereightWhich war with Russia? Americans literally gave no heck while moving locals onto an uninhanited island with almost no supply, telling them stories it would be temporary.

[@HoundGrin]

@@Chainereight Being the only nation to use nuclear weapons against civilians, having burned down Tokyo days before, Americans have no moral ground to make a quack.

[@ComradeCatpurrnicus]

Great video