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Impact Across the Region
Vorozhdeniya Island, a former Soviet weapons testing site for anthrax, smallpox, plague, brucellosis, and tularemia. With the area drying up, dust storms began carrying contaminants from the site to the surrounding region.
Water Volume by Cubic kilometers
Water Salinity by Percent Increase
Species of Fish in the Aral Sea
Until the 1960s, the sea was the largest fishery basin in Central Asia, providing an annual catch of 40,000 tons of fish.
Approximately 50,000 fishermen lost their traditional livelihood.
Male infertility rates
The Human Cost
In the decades after damming the sea, the ecological and economic side effects have been disastrous for local populations.
Birth defects trend
Rate of anemia in pregnant women
Life expectancy trend
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