April 17, 2004

Aral Sea

There's a new topic getting off to a somewhat uneven start in the media conference called "Misinformation" (topic 2230), but a user named (hal) posted two great links there, on the incredible eco-disaster that is the Aral Sea.

When I was growing up, I was a serious geography buff, and loved studying maps. I always wanted to go to the Aral Sea kind of like Feynman always wanted to go to Tuva. The Aral Sea was, after all, the largest lake in the world, a huge body of water in the middle of Asia. Alas, it isn't so huge anymore.

First link is to a fascinating page developed by UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme.

The second link show is a photo of what it looks like from the ground. Photo reminds me of a scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, only this time, it's for real.

Posted by brian at April 17, 2004 07:46 AM | TrackBack

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