GEOG 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Oceanic Basin, Catastrophe Theory, Environmental Resource Management
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Aral sea used to be perfect spot for fishing
Real biophysical consequences (changes in the ecosystem that humans are a part of)
- The native/natural/adapted riparian plant community was eradicated (Toga forest)
- Reduced variety and yield of food crops
- New terminal lakes
- Fishing, hunting and trapping declined, then vanished
- Shipping no longer possible
- Saline/toxic dust on exposed sea bed → cancer rates, tuberculosis
- Local climate change → air is rising up, mini tornado + large water body (lake effect)
winters tend to be more mild and summer are cooler – what was a relatively stable
weather, because no more large water body, no more temperate weather → more frost
days, decline in precipitations
Social ecological responses
- Displaced population and high unemployment
- Migration to cities/towns
- Morbidity increase
- Increase in TB → contagious and spread through breathing
- Cancer rate increase
- Culture loss and defeatism? → cultural “genocide”
- Increase of the cotton industry pushed for relocations – but also relocation due to fishing
o Loss of skill sets → the people who had those skill sets that are no longer needed
feel disempowered, marginalized, being lost, etc → impact on mental health
- Legacy- Social justice imbalances
Environmental management – a way to make the socio-ecosystem stable?
- Double down: more irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, soil removal, river damming
- Go upstream and divert more water into the system
- Restore natural systems?
- Or…
International fund for saving the Aral sea – the Aral sea basin Project (ASPB) (up to 2012)
- They given up but restore fish population and fish industry
- The main objective of ASPB is to improve the living conditions of the people in the
region. In other words, to improve the socio-economic and environmental situation by
applying the principles of integrated water resources management, to develop a mutually
acceptable mechanism for a multi-purpose use of water resources and to protect the
environment in central Asia taking into account the interests of all the states in the region
Aral Sea
- No perfect solution
- The damage have been done and sometimes you cannot go back
- Catastrophe theory and big changes
- Management options
- Clearly there is no perfect solution. This ecosystem, this socio-ecosystem, is permanently
transformed.
- What lessons does it bring?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Aral sea used to be perfect spot for fishing. Real biophysical consequences (changes in the ecosystem that humans are a part of) The native/natural/adapted riparian plant community was eradicated (toga forest) Reduced variety and yield of food crops. Fishing, hunting and trapping declined, then vanished. Saline/toxic dust on exposed sea bed cancer rates, tuberculosis. Increase in tb contagious and spread through breathing. Double down: more irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, soil removal, river damming. Go upstream and divert more water into the system. International fund for saving the aral sea the aral sea basin project (aspb) (up to 2012) They given up but restore fish population and fish industry. The main objective of aspb is to improve the living conditions of the people in the region. The damage have been done and sometimes you cannot go back. And what options does it have? http://www. aljazeera. com/programmes/earthrise/2012/07/201271912543306106. html. How to present in a compelling way. Develop an effective search strategy for a research topic.
