Research in Social Problems and Public Policy

The Aral Sea and Its Lessons for Sustainability

By: Abror Gadaev (Editor), Michael R. Edelstein (Editor), Astrid Cerny (Editor)

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Hardcover | 27 November 2012

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Hardcover
300 Pages

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16.1 x 23.8 x 3.5

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Disaster by Design: The Aral Sea, Lessons for Sustainability addresses the impacts of the Aral Sea disaster. The virtual disappearance of what was the world's fourth largest inland body of water was neither natural nor accidental. It was the result of deliberate policy decisions. The sea's disappearance is hardly the entire disaster. Instead, we find an accumulation of cascading effects, beginning with the decision to grow cotton, reached remotely in Moscow that altered the farming practices surrounding the Aral Sea. Unsustainable choices resulted in soil salinization, water pollution and toxic blowing sands, impacting the entire bioregion and beyond. A remote island was used to test biological weapons. Uzbekistan, most notably Karakalpakstan, was the autonomous republic at the epicenter of the disaster. Sustainable prospects exist, including renewable energy, permaculture and strengthening the social fabric amidst poverty and ecological collapse. This volume of Research in Social Problems and Public Policy is essential reading for everyone concerned with averting environmental disaster and instead creating livable, sustainable communities. Disaster by Design is a clarion call and an insightful study of Central Asia today.

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Non-Fiction Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning The Environment Social Impact of Environmental Issues Natural Disasters Politics & Government Central Government Central Government Policies Applied Ecology

List of Contributors	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Maps of Uzbekistan and the Greater Aral Sea Region	p. xix
List of Tables and Figures	p. xxxi
List of Maps	p. xxxv
Preface	p. xxxvii
The Multiple Disasters of the Aral Sea
An Overview of the Aral Sea Disaster	p. 5
Going With the Flow: Economic Impacts from the Overuse of Irrigation	p. 17
Pollution and Salinization: Compounding the Aral Sea Disaster	p. 29
Death and Rebirth Island: Secrets in the U.S.S.R.'S Culture of Contamination	p. 37
Potential Climate and Hydrological Changes in the Aral Sea Region	p. 53
The Significance of Being Downstream: Uzbek Concerns Over the Rogun Dam	p. 65
The Aral Disaster in Historical Perspective
A Last Movement for a Lost Sea	p. 77
Aral Sea Analogs in the American West	p. 89
Disaster By Design: The Multiple Caused Catastrophes of the Aral Sea	p. 105
Cotton, Cotton Everywhere, But Not a Drop To Drink: Agriculture as the Villain
What Went Wrong: The Case of Un-Ecological Agriculture	p. 159
The Nonarable Aral: Loss of Productivity in Uzbek Agriculture	p. 175
Cotton in Our Ears: Water, Agriculture, and Climatic Change in the Post Aral Context	p. 187
Water Footprints: Integrated Water Resource Management to the Rescue in the Aral Sea Basin	p. 197
Adapting to Catastrophe: Cascading Social Impacts of the Aral Sea Disaster
The Tragedy of the Aral: Counting on Cotton, A Region Loses Its People	p. 223
Reflections on Growing up in the Karakalpakstan Region	p. 251
An Unhealthy Place to Live: Prioritizing Public Health and Addressing Environmental Contamination in Karakalpakstan	p. 261
A Physician's Observations of Karakalpak Health	p. 275
Ecological Change in the Aral Region: Adaptations By the Spoonbill and Black-Crowned Night Heron	p. 283
Environmental Change as a Threat to the Khorezm Heritage	p. 291
Whose Disaster is it Anyway? Romancing the World Heritage Status in Uzbekistan	p. 305
Designing Solutions: Social, Ecological and Technological Approaches
New Thinking and New Approaches: A Bioregional Response to the Lost Aral Sea	p. 327
Renewable Social Energy: Mahalla as a Traditional Institution for Sustainability	p. 335
Clearing the Pipes: Providing Potable Water Through Well Restoration	p. 349
Renewing With Renewables: Direct Solar Energy Use in Developing Countries	p. 357
Getting the Salt Out: Innovative Solar Technologies for Rural Clean Water	p. 373
Renewable Energy as a Key Factor for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan	p. 385
Permaculture Restoration of the Aral Sea Watershed	p. 391
Lessons of the Aral Sea Disaster: Implications for Social Learning
Aral Sea Demise as a Dry Run for Climate Change: From Cumulative to Cascading Impacts	p. 415
Highlands-to-Sea Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin: Linking or Sinking?	p. 443
About the Authors	p. 453
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Research in Social Problems and Public Policy

The Aral Sea and Its Lessons for Sustainability

At a Glance

Hardcover

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