Leaders of four Central Asian countries have called for international action to prevent the drying of the Aral Sea. At today's meeting of the International Fund for the Rescue of the Aral Sea in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, the President of Tajikistan, along with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, unveiled their plan to establish a special United Nations commission for the Aral Sea and announced that they would hold a gathering next year to raise funds. Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan and chair of the meeting, stated that the Aral crisis is a global problem. He noted that annually one million tons of salt from the evaporation of the sea's water is released into the atmosphere, disrupting the ecological balance not only in Asia but globally. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan, mentioned that the salt concentration in the Aral basin contributes to the melting of glaciers not only in the Pamir mountains but also in the Alps in Europe. The Soviet government, during Brezhnev's era, diverted the waters of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers to the Aral Sea for cotton farming in Central Asia.
Leaders of 4 Central Asian Countries Call for Prevention of Aral Sea Drying
Leaders from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan have called for international efforts to address the environmental crisis of the Aral Sea. They plan to establish a UN commission and hold a fundraising event next year. The drying of the Aral Sea poses significant ecological threats not only regionally but globally.
👥 Key Players
📰 What Happened
Leaders from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan convened to call for international action to prevent the drying of the Aral Sea. They proposed the establishment of a UN commission and a fundraising event to address the ecological crisis.
- The Aral Sea is drying due to historical water diversion for agriculture, particularly cotton farming.
- The ecological crisis is releasing significant amounts of salt into the atmosphere, affecting global weather patterns.
💡 Why It Matters
📚 Background
The Aral Sea was once one of the largest lakes in the world but has drastically shrunk due to Soviet-era agricultural policies. This environmental disaster has led to severe ecological and health issues in the region.
🏷️ Entities Mentioned
Translated from the original and edited for English readers. View original source →
Translation confidence: 85%