The surface area of ​​the world's largest lake is decreasing. “It may never recover”

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on our planet. Its intricate coastline stretches for over 6,400 kilometers. Five countries have access to the reservoir: Kazakhstan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkmenistan. The lake is inhabited by sturgeons, whose roe is valued all over the world for its taste. This reservoir is an important economic point due to the large oil deposits located at its bottom.

The Caspian Sea also influences the climate of this arid region by providing rainfall to Central Asia. Unfortunately, the area of ​​the reservoir has been decreasing since the mid-1990s. Scientists have observed that the rate of its shrinkage has accelerated significantly since 2005, reports CNN.

Dams, over-extraction of raw materials, pollution and, increasingly, the human-made climate crisis are driving it dry, writes CNN. Some experts fear the Caspian Sea is at the point of no return. The rate at which the lake's surface area is decreasing is very fast.

People don't have to look far to see what the future may hold. The nearby Aral Sea, which straddles the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once one of the world's largest lakes, but has almost disappeared, devastated by a combination of human activity and the worsening climate crisis.

As CNN writes, for many thousands of years the Caspian Sea has had its good and bad periods, which were related to the average global temperature and the extent of the ice cover. But over the last few decades, the rate of reduction of its surface area has accelerated significantly.

– Russia has built 40 dams and 18 more are under construction, which reduces the flow of water flowing into the Caspian Sea, Vali Kaleji, an expert on Central Asia and Caucasus Studies at the University of Tehran, told CNN.

The water level in the Caspian Sea is decreasing, which, according to scientists, is mainly influenced by the changing climate.

– Water in the Caspian Sea has been decreasing since the mid-1990s. The rate of water level decline has accelerated significantly since 2005, Matthias Prange, a scientist from the University of Bremen in Germany, told CNN in an interview. He added that according to his calculations, the water level in the reservoir will drop by about 8-18 meters by the end of the century. – This will depend on how quickly the world reduces air pollution from fossil fuels – he added.

Another study suggests that water levels could drop by as much as 30 meters by 2100. – Even under more optimistic global warming scenarios, the shallower, northern part of the Caspian Sea, mainly those located near Kazakhstan, has completely disappear,” said Joy Singarayer, professor of paleoclimatology at the University of Reading and co-author of the 2021 paper.

The Caspian Sea is located in a region that has experienced many political events instability and is divided between five countries, each of which will experience its collapse in different ways. – No country is to blame, but if they do not take joint action, there may be a repeat of the Aral Sea disaster, Kaleji said. – There is no guarantee that the Caspian Sea will return to its natural state. It may never recover, he added.