July 23, 2010 7:31 PM

Satellite Images Uncover Water's Retreat in Major Lakes

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The images are breathtaking.

A general view shows the Kokaral Dam on Kazakhstan's Aral Sea

(Credit: Antoine Lambroschni/AFP/Getty Image)

Before and after images taken over the the last forty years present stark visual testimony to the impact that humans have had on major bodies of water around the world.

The water loss most telling in images of the Aral Sea in Asia, which once ranked as the fourth biggest lake in the world. It's now estimated that the lake has lost half its water since the 1960s.

Benjamin Lloyd-Hughes of University of Reading told The Daily Mail that the "disaster seen at the Aral Sea and the marshes are the combined effects of man and rising temperatures in those regions. 'There has not been much change in rainfall in those areas but the temperature has risen by over 1 degree Centigrade since 1970, which will have enhanced losses due to evaporation." "Pollution in the area will have become worse because as the water evaporates, pollutants in the water become more concentrated and less diluted," he added. But the Aral Sea is not the only body of water under stress. The Daily Mail has the full story here.

Add a Comment
by ky46 July 26, 2010 4:14 PM EDT
Water is matter. Matter in the scientific sense can not be created or destroyed.
We have the same amount, be it ice, vapor, or liquid, it is just the specific areas where climate change or man made barriers (dams, canals, pipes, pumps, ect.) effects the local area.
While one lake dries up another island or shoreline is inundated be rising water.
Reply to this comment
by j_mcdonald-2009 July 25, 2010 2:40 AM EDT
ToolMangler1: Next time someone explains global warming, try to pay attention. Then you won't be so confused.
Reply to this comment
by ToolMangler1 July 24, 2010 9:43 PM EDT
I thought 'global warming' was supposed to fix that. Gore promised us that the Ice Caps would melt and flood the earth. boohoohoohoo. Lied to again.
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