Analysis Inland Cover at the Aral Sea - Literature review Example

Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Aral Sea Literature Review 1. Introduction Aral Sea is the region occupied by the terminal lake in Central Asia and has been continuously undergone filling and impacts of human activities that have affected the natural water in various ways. It is a sea that is shared by seven countries: such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Iran and Turmenistan. The total area occupied by the sea is estimated to be 1,549,000 km2.The existence of a number of human activities such as irrigation and the changes in weather are some contributing factors to the deterioration of the lake. This paper presents a literature review of the challenges experienced at the Aral Sea by focusing in the changes in land cover that have been observed, the impacts of weather and the role of remote sensing in understanding the changes in land cover that have been observed in Aral Sea. In addition, it presents the contribution of a number of human activities in the deterioration of the Aral Sea region. Finally, the paper explains the changes that have taken place in the Aral Sea region. In order to achieve a better understanding of the literature review, the paper investigates 18 articles that focus on the selected themes. The arguments of the articles are compared and contrasted with the literature review to provide a better understanding of the themes. 2. Discussion 2.1. Change in Land Cover in Aral Sea The main changes that have been observed in land cover at Aral Sea include: increased Stalinization that has created unsuitable condition for the growth of vegetation, salt pick-ups in the watersheds and increased Stalinization of the adjacent rivers have threatened the growth of vegetation. According to the article by Alles (24), that illustrates the increase in salinity of the land and rivers that flow into the Aral Sea to have affected the growth of aquatic vegetation and plants that grow near the Sea by preventing their growth and enhancing soil erosion. This is similar to the article by Warner (15) who illustrates that erosion and sedimentation of the areas around rivers that flow into the Aral Sea has affected the quality of the soil thus threatening the growth of vegetation. This article also states that soil erosion has resulted into the deforestation of the upper watershed and overgrazing in the mountain regions and performance of the basin water regulation has been greatly affected. In contrast, the article by Sommer, Rolf, et al. (280), illustrates that the main factor that has contributed to increased impacts on vegetation around the Aral Sea are human activities such as use of fertilizers that have enhanced salinity of the soil thus creating unsuitable conditions for growth of crops. 2.2. Impact of Weather on Water There have been increased diminishing of the wetlands and biodiversity around Aral Sea. Drying of the deltas has considerably contributed to the reduction of the area covered by the lakes, wetlands and the reed cover of the shores of the sea. Weather conditions in the mountainous regions that act as the origins of water such as the preservation of glaciers and the flow of glacial waters into the rivers, increased erosion of the slopes of mountains and destruction of mountainous forests have promoted the sedimentation of the Aral Sea and reduction of the total area covered by water. It has also contributed to a reduction in its depth. These arguments are supported by those of Hummel (13), who explains that one of the contributing factors to the drying of the sea and increased desertification is the increase in strong winds that increase the blowing of sands and salt particles from the bottom of the area covered by the sea, which has become barren and approached desert characteristics with an area estimated to be 50,000 km2. In addition, Duarte (162), explains that change in weather has resulted into the shrinkage of the lake and there has been an increase in the area uncovered by water in the Kazakhstan border by 100 meters. The maritime conditions have been affected by the emergence of desert regimes. The views expressed above are in contrast with those of Shi et al. (25), that explains that the main impact of weather on the Aral Sea has been increased salt dusts blown into the sea due to strong winds. 2.3. Role of Remote Sensing on Understanding Changes in Land Cover The current state of Aral Sea region has been understood better by using various remote sensing technologies. This has enabled understanding of the current challenges faced due to socioeconomic activities of the people in the region covered by the sea. According the article by Klein et al. (336), it has been observed that seasonal fluctuations have been drastic by undertaking remote-sensing activities using satellite facilities. For instance, it has been possible to observe the development of dust winds and the development of salt storms and the impact they have on the salinity of the sea. These views are supported by the article by Löw et al. (8304), which illustrates that remote sensing activities have enabled understanding of the desiccation in the seabed of the Aral Sea. Furthermore, the article by Kotte et al. (1226) has focused on remote sensing of emissions resulting from saline environments and its impacts on the Aral Sea. In addition, remote sensing activities have enabled understanding of the possible impacts resulting from salt dusts emitted into Aral Sea. Through spatial extrapolation using remote sensing devices, it has been possible to understand the impacts of saline conditions on the sea. These views are comparable with those of the article by Dubovyk et al. (4776), which states that remote sensing technology has been used during spatio-temporal analysis of degradation of the cropland in the areas that have been irrigated in the Uzberkistan and analyzing the findings using regression modeling. This has enabled understanding of environmental impact on Aral Sea. Contrastingly, Sima et al. (379), illustrates that the main area of importance of remote sensing in understanding the impacts of natural and socioeconomic activities on Aral Sea is mapping surface temperatures in the lake and understanding the distribution of temperature which determines the rate of evaporation. This is because; a significant loss of water from the sea has been brought by increase in the rate of evaporation from the sea. Furthermore, the article by Spivak et al. (103) illustrates that remote sensing technology has been effective in understanding the changes in dust transfer and its impacts on the desiccation that has affected the sea bottom. 2.4. Aral Sea Area and Human Activities The main human activity that has contributed to the impact on Aral Sea is the increase cultivation in the area around the sea which has resulted into an increase in sedimentation from agricultural farms. There have also been increased uses of agricultural chemicals such as herbicides and fertilizers that have promoted the salinity of the sea. According to Krivonogov et al. (286), there fluctuation of Aral Sea has been contributed by increased drawing of water from the sea for the purpose of undertaking irrigation activities. This is attributed to the increase in irrigation activities in the past ten years as a result of increased agricultural production. These arguments are comparable with those of Izhitskiy et al. (236), who states that increase farming and animal production has enhanced the use of water from the lake which has promoted the reduction of its total capacity. Due to the need to conserve the water in the Aral Sea, various efforts have been put in place to achieve this objective. According to Krutov et al. (326), there have been the efforts of the government of Tajikistan to manage water resources in its territory as a result of the degradation caused by increased use of water for a number of human activities. 2.5. Changes that have occurred in Aral Sea There have been increased concerns regarding changes that have affected the Aral Sea among countries bordering it. The main changes that have brought concern is increased salinity due to human activities, increased desiccation of the sea-bed and deposition of pollutant materials that degrade the conditions of the sea. According to Cretaux et al. (105), the variability of the level of the sea has been a major area of debate during scientific studies on the sea. There have been the need o determine measures through which rehabilitation can be done to improve its level and water quality. In a similar manner, Micklin et al. (147), states that there have been efforts to rehabilitate such as improvement of the vegetation cover and reduced use of water for various human activities. However, the article Abdelazim (147) emphasizes that the main changes in the Aral Sea have been increased changes in environmental conditions such as the existence of winds that blow sands into the sea, thus affecting its water level. 3. Summary of the Findings From this study, it has been possible to understand the current challenges facing Aral Sea. It has been found that the changes in weather conditions such as windy environment have enhanced the blowing of sand into the sea, thus reducing its level significantly. There have also been increased uses of water for irrigation purposes. Agricultural activities have resulted into desertification and erosion of the areas around the sea. This has promoted sedimentation and the drying up of the deltas of many rivers. It has also been found that the use of remote sensing technology has promoted the understanding of the challenges affecting the Aral Sea. For instance, it has been possible to measure the rate of evaporation from the surface of the lake. It has also been possible to use the remote sensing technology to determine the rate of desiccation at the seabed. Generally, there have been increased debate due to the concerns regarding the reduction in the level of the Aral Sea and countries that utilize its water have been involved in efforts to reduce impacts on its water for the purpose of enhancing its sustainability. Works Cited Abdelazim, Ibrahim A. "Effect of environmental factors on ovarian reserve of women living in Aral Sea area." Journal of Infertility and Reproductive Biology 3.1 (2015): 145-149. Alles, David L. "The Aral Sea." Western Washington University, web paper at http://fire. biol. wwu. edu/trent/alles/AralSea. pdf" last updated 11.4 (2011): 11. Cretaux, Jean-François, René Letolle, and Muriel Bergé-Nguyen. "History of Aral Sea level variability and current scientific debates." Global and Planetary Change 110 (2013): 99- 113. Duarte, Paulo. "Central Asia: the Planet's Pivot area." Revista Española de Relaciones Internacionales 6 (2014): 159-206. Dubovyk, Olena, et al. "Spatio-temporal analyses of cropland degradation in the irrigated lowlands of Uzbekistan using remote-sensing and logistic regression modeling." Environmental monitoring and assessment 185.6 (2013): 4775-4790. Hummel, Sarah J. "Flexibility in Targeted Goods Provision: International Cooperation over Resource Management in Post-Soviet Central Asia." (2015). Izhitskiy, A. S., et al. "On thermohaline structure and circulation of the Western Large Aral Sea from 2009 to 2011: Observations and modeling."Journal of Marine Systems 129 (2014): 234-247. Klein, Igor, et al. "Evaluation of seasonal water body extents in Central Asia over the past 27 years derived from medium-resolution remote sensing data." International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation26 (2014): 335-349. Kotte, K., et al. "Organohalogen emissions from saline environments–spatial extrapolation using remote sensing as most promising tool." Biogeosciences9.3 (2012): 1225-1235. Krivonogov, S. K., et al. "The fluctuating Aral Sea: A multidisciplinary-based history of the last two thousand years." Gondwana Research 26.1 (2014): 284-300. Krutov, Anatoly, Sulton Rahimov, and Anvar Kamolidinov. "Republic of Tajikistan: Its Role in the Management of Water Resources in the Aral Sea Basin." River Basin Management in the Twenty-first Century: Understanding People and Place. CRC Press (this book) (2014): 325-345. Löw, F., et al. "Remote-sensing-based analysis of landscape change in the desiccated seabed of the Aral Sea—a potential tool for assessing the hazard degree of dust and salt storms." Environmental monitoring and assessment185.10 (2013): 8303-8319. Micklin, Philip, Nikolay Aladin, and Igor Plotnikov, eds. The Aral Sea: The Devastation and Partial Rehabilitation of a Great Lake. Vol. 10178. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Micklin, Philip, Nikolay Aladin, and Igor Plotnikov, eds. The Aral Sea: The Devastation and Partial Rehabilitation of a Great Lake. Vol. 10178. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Shi, Wei, Menghua Wang, and Wei Guo. "Long‐term hydrological changes of the Aral Sea observed by satellites." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 119.6 (2014): 3313- 3326. Sima, S., A. Ahmadalipour, and M. Tajrishy. "Mapping surface temperature in a hyper-saline lake and investigating the effect of temperature distribution on the lake evaporation." Remote Sensing of Environment 136 (2013): 374-385. Sommer, Rolf, et al. "Economic-ecological optimization model of land and resource use at farm- aggregated level." Cotton, Water, Salts and Soums. Springer Netherlands, 2012. 267-283. Spivak, L., et al. "Dynamics of dust transfer from the desiccated Aral Sea bottom analysed by remote sensing." Aralkum-a Man-Made Desert. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. 97- 106. Warner, Koko. "Environmental change and migration: methodological considerations from ground-breaking global survey." Population and environment 33.1 (2011): 3-27. Read More