![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2015\/03\/aral_sea\/15327439-1-eng-GB\/Aral_Sea_small.jpg\")
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\nThis multitemporal Sentinel-1A radar image shows the Aral Sea, located on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Aral Sea is a striking example of humankind\u2019s impact on the environment and natural resources. Once the world\u2019s fourth-largest inland water body, it has lost around 90% of its water volume since 1960 because of Soviet-era irrigation schemes.\n<\/p>\n
\nAs the water evaporated, it left behind a dry, white salt terrain now called the Aral Karakum Desert. Each year violent sandstorms pick up salt and sand from the desert and transport it across hundreds of kilometres, causing severe health problems for the local population and making regional winters colder and summers hotter.\n<\/p>\n
\nChemicals in the dry plains from former weapons testing, industrial projects and fertiliser runoff exacerbates the effects of these storms on health.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn addition, the area\u2019s fishing industry \u2013 which once employed tens of thousands of people \u2013 has been devastated.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe World Bank and Kazakhstan has worked together to build the Kok-Aral dyke to stabilise the northern section of the sea. The Aral Sea\u2019s southern section \u2013 part of which is pictured here \u2013 was beyond saving and is projected to dry out completely by the end of this decade.\n<\/p>\n
\nThis image was created by combining three radar scans from Sentinel-1A, assigning each a colour: red (from 17 October 2014), green (from 28 December 2014) and blue (from 14 February 2015). Different colours represent changes between the acquisitions.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn the lower right, the red, yellow and green boomerang shape shows where water flows into the dry seabed from a river, and colours show how the area covered in water increased over time.\n<\/p>\n
\nAlong the left side of the image, the large dark area shows where water is still present. Colours along the water\u2019s edge show water-level changes between acquisitions. Red shows a lower level than blue, so the water level was lower on 17 October 2014 than on 14 February 2015.\n<\/p>\n
\nZooming in on the lower-left corner, we can see the straight line of a road outside of the seabed, with white dots showing where the radar signal has reflected off of human-made structures. White dots also appear further east, showing where structures have been built in the seabed.\n<\/p>\n