Post by Radrook Admin on Nov 22, 2022 18:35:48 GMT -5
The Aral Sea Disaster
The drying-up of the world’s fourth largest lake, created 5-million-hectares of new desert -- the AralKum. Dust and salt-storms from the dried bed of the sea impacts both irrigated lands and the health of the populace via salinization, land and water degradation, floral and faunal biodiversity losses, degradation of biotic communities around the delta, and climate change around the former shoreline.
These dramatic developments further resulted in:
(i) an increase in the health problems of the population along with declining living conditions,
(ii) a degradation of the local economy and livelihood opportunities (fishing, hunting, short term tourism),
(iii) a loss of cultural heritage for the local population, and (iv) increased environmental migration (internal and external).
www.brusselstimes.com/172546/the-aral-sea-disaster-history-current-issues-and-futur
Seems as if every time mankind interferes with nature, it inflicts unintentional damage, doesn't it? It's as if all their vaunted predictive ability based on all their knowledge is purposefully ignored or else tagged as irrelevant.
After all, the consequences of the tampering with the flow of water into the Aral Sea described in the video, were not beyond the predictive ability of Russian environmental scientists. Simple calculations would have have easily revealed the horrendous implications that altering the flow of water into the Aral Sea would cause.
It wasn't a big deal. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to calculate the rate of evaporation and replenishment of the Aral Sea's water, and to quickly understand that cutting off, or significantly reducing the flow that was constantly replacing its evaporating waters would result in the evaporation reducing the amount of water leading to the eventual disappearance of the Aral Sea.
So are we to conclude that these Russian scientists, who are experts at calculating the effects of tampering with nature, suddenly went brain-dead and didn't know? Since it was a as simple at two minus one equals one, of course they knew. There is absolutely no logical reason to conclude that they didn't.
Then what exactly could have been the reason for their plowing ahead anyway or their motive for feigning temporary ignorance? Well, it can be explained with two words, human avarice. You see, when temporary monetary profit enters the equation, then monetary profit is given propriety and the detrimental long-term effects are deemed irrelevant.
In short, the problems that presently exist due to the Aral Sea shrinkage, were not deemed their problem. After all, by the time the effects would take effect, those making profit would very probably be dead or close to dying.
Essentially, human avarice, or the fanatical love of money, always seems to be at the root of environmental problems, and not mankind's inability to predict the consequences of its meddling with the natural world.
After all, the consequences of the tampering with the flow of water into the Aral Sea described in the video, were not beyond the predictive ability of Russian environmental scientists. Simple calculations would have have easily revealed the horrendous implications that altering the flow of water into the Aral Sea would cause.
It wasn't a big deal. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to calculate the rate of evaporation and replenishment of the Aral Sea's water, and to quickly understand that cutting off, or significantly reducing the flow that was constantly replacing its evaporating waters would result in the evaporation reducing the amount of water leading to the eventual disappearance of the Aral Sea.
So are we to conclude that these Russian scientists, who are experts at calculating the effects of tampering with nature, suddenly went brain-dead and didn't know? Since it was a as simple at two minus one equals one, of course they knew. There is absolutely no logical reason to conclude that they didn't.
Then what exactly could have been the reason for their plowing ahead anyway or their motive for feigning temporary ignorance? Well, it can be explained with two words, human avarice. You see, when temporary monetary profit enters the equation, then monetary profit is given propriety and the detrimental long-term effects are deemed irrelevant.
In short, the problems that presently exist due to the Aral Sea shrinkage, were not deemed their problem. After all, by the time the effects would take effect, those making profit would very probably be dead or close to dying.
Essentially, human avarice, or the fanatical love of money, always seems to be at the root of environmental problems, and not mankind's inability to predict the consequences of its meddling with the natural world.