For decades the shrinking Aral Sea has been the poster child for environmental catastrophe. Behind images of rusty fishing boat shells sitting awkwardly among the sand dunes lies a story of human ...

A generation ago, the vanishing of the Aral Sea became global shorthand for environmental desolation. Today the region has become a test bed for a resilient future. A thermal spring, visited by locals ...

In 1990, National Geographic went to the Soviet Union to report on one of the worst environmental disasters of the 20th century: the shrinking of the Aral Sea. From the rusting deck of the boat he ...

This post is part of Global Voices’ May 2026 Spotlight series, “Global crisis, local solutions.” This series will offer stories of resistance and successful climate action, insight into how ...