The Aral Sea is one of only 17 ancient lakes in the world, and is estimated to be more than 5 million years old. At one time the Aral Sea was a vibrant ecosystem of life that supported millions of people who lived near its shores. To many, the Aral Sea has now become synonymous with environmental catastrophe. In the early 1960's, the Soviet government decided to make the Soviet Union self-sufficient in cotton and increase its production. Government officials ordered the additional amount of needed water to be taken from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers that feed the Aral Sea. Large dams were built across both rivers, and an 850-mile central canal with a far-reaching system of smaller canals was created. When the irrigation system was completed, millions of acres along both sides of the main canal were flooded. This action by man has caused what was once the fourth largest lake in the world to lose forty percent of its area and also has threatened the lives of people who live near it.
             The Aral Sea is an inland salt-water sea with no outlet. It is fed by two rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya. The fresh water from these two rivers held the Aral's water and salt levels in perfect balance. They are also the only sources of water for the lake. Scientists consider the drying up of the Aral Sea one of the greatest ecological disasters of all time. The problems began when the former Soviet Union made Kazakhstan its main producer of cotton, a plant that requires a great deal of water to grow. For years, the Soviet government drained water from rivers flowing into the Aral Sea to grow cotton in the Central Asian republics that surround it, including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The practice has harmed both the land and the sea. Following three decades of harmful farming and irrigation practices the lake that former fishing and agricultural communities depended on for survival has almost disappeared. Between 1960 and 1987, it...