Asian Dust
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Asian Dust is a meteorological phenomenon that affects much of East Asia year-round and especially during the spring months. The dust originates in the deserts of China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, wher
Dust clouds leaving mainland China and traveling toward Korea and Japan
Dust deposition in Beijing during the 2006 season
Number of days of Yellow Dust Observations in Korea from 1960 to 2016
Aral Sea
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The Aral Sea was an endorheic salt lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south, which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up into desert by 2007. It was in th
Asian Dust
…the dust. Intensified desertification due to deforestation has been causing longer and more frequent occurrences. The issue has been exacerbated as the Aral Sea of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has largely dried up. This started in the 1960s with the diversion of the Amu River and Syr River, as part of a Soviet…
The Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right)
The Syr Darya sturgeon (Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi) was a species of fish possibly driven to extinction by the shrinkage of the Aral Sea.
The Ukrainian stickleback (Pungitius platygaster) was the only native species of the Aral Sea to survive its reduction and salinization.
The European flounder (Platichthys flesus) was a saltwater fish introduced to the Aral Sea.