The Vanishing Sea

The Aral Sea once stretched across modern-day Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. A large saltwater lake of Central Asia, the Aral Sea’s 26 square miles (67 square kilometers) sustained its surrounding communities for generations. Beginning in the 1960s, aggressive Soviet industrialization diverted water for agricultural production and caused the lake to shrink.

Today, the waters that had thrived for centuries have almost entirely disappeared-and along with them, the biodiversity of the lake, its thriving fishing industry, and the many homes along its shores.
This true tale chronicles what happens when nature’s generosity is exploited. It gently invites readers to consider the reality of irreversible environmental harm, its global impact, and what it means to be compassionate to the land we live on.