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An Elegy For The Amu Darya River
March 6th, 2024
Courtesy of Guernica, a look at how – in so many ways – human behavior is emptying the Amu Darya: Most mighty rivers enjoy a spectacular finale: a fertile delta, a mouth agape to the sea, a bay of plenty. But it had taken me almost a week to find where the Amu Darya comes […]
Read more »Japan’s Role in Healing the Aral Sea and Engaging Central Asia
February 20th, 2024
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at Japan’s role in healing the Aral Sea: Multiple international actors have become involved in helping Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan alleviate the devastating consequences of one of the worst human-made environmental disasters across the Central Asian region: the loss of the Aral Sea. One notable partner in these endeavors is […]
Read more »Central Asia’s Water Crisis Is Already Here
January 2nd, 2024
Via The Diplomat, an article on what it will it take for Central Asian states to sustainably adapt to climate change, particularly the regional water crisis that is already underway: Over the course of 2023, Central Asia grappled with escalating challenges stemming from climate change, including disruptive weather patterns affecting long-standing agricultural practices and the […]
Read more »Is Balkhash Facing Fate of Aral Sea?
December 29th, 2023
Via Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting, a report on Lake Balkhash’s complex hydro future: Now Balkhash is a natural site. If a nuclear power plant is built on the lake, it will turn into an industrial pond. It will let China limit the Ili river flow feeding the lake, and the new load on […]
Read more »Impact of Afghanistan’s Kushtepa Canal on Central Asia
November 16th, 2023
Via the Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting (CABAR), a discussion of the impact of the construction of the Afghan Kushtepa Canal on the water balance in Central Asia: During the analytical expert meeting organized by CABAR.asia on 31 October, experts from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan discussed the prospects and consequences of the construction […]
Read more »Reevaluating The Forgotten River Civilizations of Central Asia
October 5th, 2023
Via PNAS, an interesting paper examining the Aral Sea basin in Central Asia in which its major rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were the center of advanced river civilizations, and a principal hub of the Silk Roads over a period of more than 2,000 y. The region’s decline has been traditionally attributed to […]
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