Q. Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/dried up in the recent past due to human activities?

  1. Aral Sea
  2. Black Sea
  3. Lake Baikal

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  • 1 only
  • 2 and 3 only
  • 2 only
  • 1 and 3 only

Answer: (a) 1 only

Notes:

  • The Aral Sea is a saline lake located in Central Asia that was once the world’s fourth-largest salt lake.
  • In the 1960s the Aral Sea, which was the drainage basin for Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan, began to shrink as the Soviet Union began to divert water for agricultural purposes.
  • As per NASA, over the last 50 years, the Aral Sea has shrunk by about 75% of its original size mainly because of water diversion for agricultural usages in surrounding areas.
  • The depth of the Aral Sea has also decreased from 68 meters in the 1960s to at less than 10 meters in the present day. 
Aral Sea
Aral Sea