The Caspian Sea needs to be “drunk” with water: environmentalists of Kazakhstan are sounding the alarm
The surface area of the Caspian Sea has decreased by 8 thousand km² over 15 years. According to experts, the lowering of the water level has already begun to affect the ecosystem and the marine industry. Kazakh ecologists believe that the Volga and Zhaiyk rivers should be given plenty of water to the Caspian, Sputnik reports.
The data of JSC "NC "Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary" indicate that the seabed was exposed in the northern part of the Kazakhstan water area of the Caspian Sea. In 2008, the area of the water surface was 113.8 thousand km², and this year it has already decreased to 105.7 thousand km² As shown by remote sensing, the part of the Caspian near Atyrau was named the most vulnerable zone.
Ecologists are sounding the alarm that with the decrease in sea level, the areas of deserts and reeds have increased, which, in turn, causes a risk of fire hazard. In addition, the population of seals and sturgeons has decreased, as well as nesting places for birds in the water area. To solve these problems, according to experts, active measures to restore the balance of the Volga and Zhaiyk rivers and measures to adapt to climate change will help.
According to the National Hydrometeorological Service of Kazakhstan, the level of the Caspian Sea has been intensively rising for 18 years since 1978. By 1995, the sea level reached minus 26.62 m. Since 2006, the sea level began to decline.
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