What are the causes of the aral sea’s drastic reduction in size over the past 50 years? what are the effects of its depletion?

Causes – Human actions are the source of the changes to the Aral Sea. In particular, the two rivers that feed the sea, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, were dammed in order to make irrigation channels for commercial cotton farming.

Effects – In the last 50 years, the Aral Sea has all but disappeared. As a result, much of the local population, such as small-scale farmers, has been forced to move away from the area to survive. The sea’s reduction has also devastated local ecosystems.