I was looking at Central Asia on Google Maps the other day when I came across the Aral Sea. So I decided to look into what the sea is all about. What I discovered, is that while the sea looked large on the antiquated map on Google, it is only a remnant of its former self at just one-quarter of its original surface area.

As early as the 1920’s the Soviet Union decided the two rivers that feed the Aral Sea would be diverted to irrigate the deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to allow the widespread production of cotton. The canals were completed in the 1940’s and just twenty years later the sea started its steady decline, taking with it one-sixth of the USSR’s fishing industry.

The collapse of the sea was no surprise to the Russians as they had anticipated it happening long before. Plans to build another canal system to restore the Aral Sea were shelved due to staggering costs and insufficient public support.

Today we find ourselves with an ecological disaster on the steppes. The lack of freshwater inflow to the lake has not only caused the water levels to recede but it has also caused salinity levels in the sea to spike thus destroying virtually all marine life.

Currently Kazakhstan is taking aggressive measures to restore water levels to the North Aral sea, including the construction of a dam between the North and South Aral Seas. While this has helped water levels rise in the north, it obviously has not helped the south much.

The South Aral Sea lies in the poorer Uzbekistan and has been largely abandoned to its fate. Uzbekistan has shown no willingness to part with its cotton industry, and has begun to search for mineral deposits on the dry seabed. The South Aral Sea is expected to completely vanish before the turn of the century.

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Here’s an eco-adventure for everyone.

 See the polar bears do what they do in Churchill, Manitoba
In the far north of Canada, on the western shores of the Hudson Bay lies the world’s largest Polar bear denning area. Visitors to the region take tundra buggies over the frozen ice for the chance to view polar bears in their natural habitat. Many mothers, some with young cubs, can often be seen in close proximity to the vehicles. In addition to the polar bears, Churchill is one of Canada’s best place to observe the Northern Lights.

Fall is the time to visit as it’s when the bears are returning to the ice after the summer, and it’s also the best time to observe the lights. VIA Rail (Canada’s national rail line) provides train service to Churchill from Winnipeg on a regular basis.

Polar bears around the world currently face enormous threats to their habitats. These threats come from a variety of sources not limited to but including climate change. Now whether you believe in climate change as a man made event, or even at all. There is no denying that polar bears are a species on the brink.

There are dozens of organizations working to protect the species and its habitat. The WWF comes to mind as one who uses a multi-faceted approach to conservation and is surely working tirelessly to achieve some protection for the polar bear. They also organize eco-tours to Churchill.

To find out ways you can help, please visit the following website: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/polarbear/polarbear.html

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According to Prince Charles that is how long we have to save the world from irreversible damage due to climate change.

Fresh off the high of being named the world’s best dressed man by Esquire magazine, Prince Charles has now set off on a new more important quest to once again bring the environment to the forefront of political discussion. The Prince will be touring South America all week and delivering a keynote speech on the environment in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

I can’t say I know a lot about Prince Charles’ personal values, but he is a vegetarian and that alone gives him immeasurably more credibility than Al Gore on all things related to the environment. Also I think it’s great that someone from the British Royal Family is doing something other than making Pakistanis feel bad about themselves.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/4952918/Prince-Charles-we-have-100-months-to-save-the-world.html

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(This is news from a few days ago, so bear with me.) NASA’s much touted ‘Orbiting Carbon Observatory’ recently failed to achieve orbit and instead crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a major setback for the space agency and a costly one at $280 Million US Dollars.

If the launch had been successful it would have provided scientists studying climate change with new tools to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. Instead it invariably added carbon to the earth’s atmosphere. Irony…

http://topnews.us/content/23878-orbiting-carbon-observatory-fiasco-nightmare-nasa

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The climate does however seem to favour Republican talk radio. The United States’ largest ever protest on climate change is expected to take place later today and initial reports had speculated it might be met with a snowstorm. Naturally this led to right-wing media outlets declaring global warming a fallacy.

Thankfully the prospects of a snowstorm have been averted and the current forecast is for sunny skies. Global warming is officially back on.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2009/03/01/2003437275

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I was browsing the news this morning when I saw a story about the Balkan lynx being close to extinction after years of poaching. It surprised me as I thought Europe had killed all of its animals a long time ago.

The lynx’s current population in the wild is only around one-hundred animals, and the poaching shows no signs of letting up. The animal is synonymous to the Balkans so hunting one is akin to an American hunting a bald eagle. (Of course Americans did hunt bald eagles but that’s besides the point.) Scientists say if the numbers drop any lower the population will be at great risk of becoming unstable.

Sadly, these are more than likely the animals last days.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090222/lf_afp/balkanswildlifespecieslynx

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A lot of you have heard of the ‘Clean Development Mechanism’. Excuse me, let me rephrase. None of you have heard of the ‘Clean Development Mechanism’. It’s the UN sponsored carbon credit trading system in which governments from first-world nations invest in green friendly projects that will reduce the carbon emissions from a third world country. And by doing so they’re giving themselves licence to pollute with a clear conscious, perfect right? Not quite. It seems something so noble as rich countries buying their way out of personal responsibility has been tainted by those third-world tricksters!

The People’s Republic has had a long standing fascination with hydro power. China has been building hydro-electric plants for a long time now, often forcibly displacing those who live in the region. But now they’re not doing it with their own money, they’re doing it with European money. That’s smart business for China, but it’s not actually reducing any carbon emissions because these were plants whose construction would have gone ahead with or without CDM money.

Now I agree in principle that rich nations should spend money to help less privileged nations meet carbon emission standards. But this is not the ideal system.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090125/ap_on_re_as/china_s_golden_dams

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I’m starting a new thing. I’m going to periodically post eco-adventures for the travellers out there and I’m going to pretend that Captain Planet is endorsing it, just like I’ve pretended he endorsed this blog. I’d like to thank a little thing called parody for keeping Ted Turner from suing me.

Go swimming in the world’s deepest lake, Lake Baikal, Russia
Located in Siberia, Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world with its depths sinking over one mile below the surface. One-fifth of the world’s freshwater is housed in this lake. Lake Baikal is also the world’s oldest lake and its isolated location has led to some unusual freshwater fauna, leading to its being known as the ‘Galapagos of Russia’. The lake is also a great place for swimming, but be warned, Siberian summers are not known for their longevity. The most popular way to access the lake is the Trans-Siberian Railway which makes a scenic loop around the lake.

Lake Baikal is currently under threat from local lumber and fossil fuel industries. But there is something you can do about it. The Great Baikal Trail is an international volunteer-driven non-profit organization promoting sustainable development of Lake Baikal through low-impact ecotourism. Currently they’re building a network of hiking trails around the lake in an effort to supply more revenue to the region through earth-friendly tourism. And like any non-profit group they always need donations and volunteers. Visit their website to find out ways you can help.

http://www.greatbaikaltrail.org/index_en.html

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A recent report has revealed that shark attacks in 2008 dropped to their lowest levels in five years. While the cynic in you might attribute this occurrence to shark populations having collapsed due to human interference. The true cause has been identified as the economy.

“I can’t help but think that contributing to the reduction may have been the reticence of some people to take holidays and go to the beach for economic reasons,” said George Burgess, an ichthyologist and director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida’s Museum of Natural History.

All of this has lead to speculation that the current stimulus package is really just an elaborate government conspiracy intent on feeding freedom loving Americans to sharks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090219/ap_on_re_us/shark_attacks

In other news: Studies claim no correlation has been found between the recent lack of buffalo sightings and the wide-scale hunting of the American Bison. The phenomena has instead been attributed to President Harrison’s signing of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

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The much maligned economic stimulus package that has been championed by President Obama might not actually stimulate the economy in the traditional sense, but it will absolutely stimulate the nation’s ‘green economy’. More than ten percent of the package’s 787 billion dollars are expected to go towards renewable domestic energy, a better grid to transmit electricity, energy research and programs to reduce the use of fossil fuels, such as weatherizing homes and federal buildings.

Ignoring for the moment that the United States’ economic foundation is no more sturdy than that of a house of cards, I am pleased to see even in the face of dire economic straits America’s current leadership has recognized the importance of protecting the environment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090216/sc_mcclatchy/3169168

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