# Is the Aral Sea the Biggest Eco-Disaster Ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726 "2012-12-11T18:53:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/1 "2012-12-11T18:53:35Z")
The near-complete destruction of the Aral Sea in Central Asia is an ecological disaster of massive proportions. Unlike many of the disasters-in-the-making like over fishing and rainforest destruction, this event can’t be turned around in the nick of time. [It has already happened.](http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm) My question is: what other eco-disasters are out there to rival this catastrophe? I’m not talking about things that are still on the way or in the process of occuring, like sea-level rise. Just stuff that’s already completely f’d up. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/2 "2012-12-11T19:07:24Z")
The [Salton Sea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_sea) isn’t nearly as big, but pretty much the same thing is happening. There’s no outflow, so salinity is increasing over time. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/3 "2012-12-11T19:35:11Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The [Salton Sea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_sea) isn’t nearly as big, but pretty much the same thing is happening. There’s no outflow, so salinity is increasing over time. Yeah, it seems like in many ways, drying up the Salton Sea would be the solution to an environmental disaster. The sea was created by humans accidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/4 "2012-12-11T19:36:45Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Yeah, it seems like in many ways, drying up the Salton Sea would be the solution to an environmental disaster. The sea was created by humans accidentally. Yes, but as I understand it, there has been a lake/sea in that area around 50% of the time over the last geologic era. It’s come and gone several (many?) times. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/5 "2012-12-11T19:50:49Z")
So let it come and go on its own without mucking about with it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/6 "2012-12-11T20:04:37Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The near-complete destruction of the Aral Sea in Central Asia is an ecological disaster of massive proportions. Really? How does it compare with the drying of the Mediterranean? That’s happened more than once. Or how about the Siberian Traps? How about the drying of northern Africa? As recently as Roman times, it was the breadbasket of the Western world. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/7 "2012-12-11T20:04:54Z")
Well, [Madagascar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_Madagascar) has been pretty well messed up by human activity. Also, North Africa was fertile at the time of the Nubians… it’s unclear how much of the subsequent desertification was due to human activity and how much was natural. Easter Island is a prime example of eco-disaster; perhaps not on as large a scale as the Aral Sea, but quite sweeping in its effect on the culture. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/8 "2012-12-11T20:13:15Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > So let it come and go on its own without mucking about with it. Its current existence is due to [the fact that we were mucking about with it.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_sea#Accidental_creation_of_the_current_Salton_Sea) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/9 "2012-12-11T20:16:20Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Yes, but as I understand it, there has been a lake/sea in that area around 50% of the time over the last geologic era. It’s come and gone several (many?) times. Well sort of. There’s been a lake there during the last few ice ages, but it dries out in between them. Like the Great Salt Lake, it took a long time to dry out between glacial periods (it may have even been there when the first Spanish explorers passed through), but barring the next ice age, the lake definitely wasn’t going to come back on its own. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/10 "2012-12-11T20:26:55Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Really? How does it compare with the drying of the Mediterranean? That’s happened more than once. Or how about the Siberian Traps? How about the drying of northern Africa? As recently as Roman times, it was the breadbasket of the Western world. Okay, well maybe the drying of north Africa was due to human activity, but I’m pretty sure were in the clear for the Siberian traps. Unless he doesn’t care if it’s a man-made eco-disaster. So in that case, yeah, the Aral sea is pretty tame. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/11 "2012-12-11T20:49:16Z")
How about whatever killed the dinosaurs? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/12 "2012-12-11T20:56:55Z")
Well, I should have mentioned that I was looking for man-made disasters. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/13 "2012-12-11T20:59:24Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Its current existence is due to [the fact that we were mucking about with it.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_sea#Accidental_creation_of_the_current_Salton_Sea) Exactly my point. We accidently made it, so trying to preserve our mistake might be innappropriate. Especially if it’s a huge and expensive boondoggle to do so. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/14 "2012-12-11T21:03:29Z")
If we don’t go man made. The rise of photosynthesis putting tons of caustic oxygen into the atmosphere killing almost all life on earth was pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/15 "2012-12-11T21:07:45Z")
[Lake Baikal](http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/ted/baikal.htm), the worlds deepest and oldest lake at 30 million years, is heavily polluted from pulp mill discharge, and human waste and pollution from three cities upstream on the Selenga River. There was a documentary some time ago about the disastrous damage done to this body of water, and to the people who live nearby. There is argument as to the extent of the pollution, as always. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/16 "2012-12-11T21:34:01Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Exactly my point. We accidently made it, so trying to preserve our mistake might be innappropriate. Especially if it’s a huge and expensive boondoggle to do so. [The Salton Sea Commission](http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/index.html) has some starry-eyed dreams, but, alas, in practice, the price of water is so high, they’ll never get the acre-feet away from the farms and the cities. It would be nice to take at least a moderate approach, and prevent the Sea from further deterioration. Simply treating the New River’s flow of raw sewage would be a good first step. Not exactly what one would call a boondoggle…but definitely too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/17 "2012-12-11T21:42:13Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Exactly my point. We accidently made it, so trying to preserve our mistake might be innappropriate. Especially if it’s a huge and expensive boondoggle to do so. But the thing is that just letting it dry up will have big environmental consequences beyond the sea itself. Toxic dust storms for one. Another issue is that migratory birds currently use the Salton Sea instead of all the wetlands gobbled up by development in Southern California. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/18 "2012-12-11T22:03:28Z")
Isn’t the Salton Sea’s primary inflow basically sewage from Mexico? I’m sure I read that somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/19 "2012-12-11T22:31:18Z")
Isn’t Haiti pretty darn messed up? ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726/20 "2012-12-11T22:53:01Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The near-complete destruction of the Aral Sea in Central Asia is an ecological disaster of massive proportions. Unlike many of the disasters-in-the-making like over fishing and rainforest destruction, this event can’t be turned around in the nick of time. [It has already happened.](http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm) > > My question is: what other eco-disasters are out there to rival this catastrophe? I’m not talking about things that are still on the way or in the process of occuring, like sea-level rise. Just stuff that’s already completely f’d up. The plowing under of the Great Plains of North America. That vast ecosystem is _never_ coming back. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-aral-sea-the-biggest-eco-disaster-ever/643726.md?page=2)