The water level in the Caspian Sea fell 10 cm below the historical minimum. The previous record was set in 1977 at minus 29 meters, and now it is minus 29.1 meters. This is reported by the publication Zakon kz.
In the coastal Kazakh city of Aktau, in some places the sea receded 50-60 meters from the shore, exposing the bottom under the piers.
The publication notes that the water level in the Caspian Sea has decreased before, but then recovered. However, now there is a tendency towards accelerated shallowing of the sea.
Studies by German and Dutch scientists predict that, based on current observations, by the 50s of this century, the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay in Turkmenistan will dry up completely.
The reason for the reduction in the volume of Caspian water is called a small amount of precipitation and a decrease in its watering.
“Small rivers that flow into the Volga no longer carry the same amount of water as before – it is taken apart for household needs. By the way, the Caspian Sea is the only sea into which almost 300 large and small rivers flow, but not a single one flows out. It is the rivers that keep the level of the Caspian Sea relatively calm. But only under one condition – if their watercourse does not change depending on climate change or human influence, ”the article says.
The Meteozhurnal publication also draws attention to the decrease in the water level in the Caspian Sea, which reported that Mikhailov Island has reappeared in the territorial waters of Turkmenistan in the Chelekeno-Ogurchinsky Strait.
It is noted that this island arose in the 30s of the last century due to a sharp drop in sea level and lasted until the 80s, when, due to the same rapid rise in water level, it was flooded again.
Now the area of the island is rapidly increasing, in 2019 it was three times smaller than its current size.
“Since the beginning of this century, the level of the Caspian Sea has been decreasing again. Only in 2021, according to the information of the head of the National Hydrometeorological Service of Azerbaijan , Umayr Tagiyev , the sea level dropped by 30 centimeters, in 2019 – by 13 centimeters. According to the forecast, in 2022 the sea will become shallower by another 20-23 centimeters,” writes Meteozhurnal.
The decrease in the water level in the Caspian is also affected by accelerated evaporation due to an increase in average annual temperatures in the region. In recent years, the publication has noted dozens of records for maximum temperatures in Turkmenistan.
“2021 stands out in particular, with monthly temperatures from April to September the second-warmest on record and the third-worst drought in decades. In some areas, records of the annual minimum of precipitation for the entire period of observation were noted, ” the editorial board of the Meteozhurnal reports .
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan