Uzbekistan leases this land for farming—mostly cotton. "If they privatized and let the farmers decide what to grow," says Aral Sea expert Philip Micklin, "you'd see more efficient use of water." ...

the two rivers that feed the Aral. Under the Soviet Union, the rivers were diverted to use for agriculture -- mainly for cotton and rice cultivation, causing the sea to shrink by up to 90 percent ...

Kazakhstan said on Monday the northern part of the Aral Sea had nearly doubled in volume since 2008, a rare environmental success story in a region plagued by pollution.

When Maria Zadneprovskaya first saw the Aral Sea in 2021, she was overcome by a ... diverted for irrigation in the Soviet era to water cotton and rice fields. By 2010, the surface area had shrunk ...

the two rivers that feed the Aral. Under the Soviet Union, the rivers were diverted to use for agriculture -- mainly for cotton and rice cultivation, causing the sea to shrink by up to 90 percent ...