The Vanishing Aral Sea

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

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[@ajgraf122]

I do believe that if I had you for a teacher in High School I would have become a history teacher myself. I enjoy all of your content Sir. Thank you very much!

[@williamtomkiel8215]

How pleasant to be able to just relax and listen, get the whole story, understand it
and don't need to worry about if it's going to be on the test.
TY

[@jimjambananaslam3596]

It is. It is going to be on the test.

[@timmaw2151]

How pertinent this feels to someone living in Utah. The Great Salt Lake is shrinking, and quickly. It is currently at its lowest levels, and we continue to use more water. It will cause huge issues in the area. There are talks of trying to stop it, but our drought gets worse and some want to divert even more river water. I feel it will also be a forgotten lake one day.

[@shawnr771]

I watched a documentary about this several years ago.
I seem to remember the commentator stating that at some point the Soviet Union had some sort of biological or chemical weapons research facility on an island.
At the time it was a remote location. You needed a boat to get near it. Plus there were other security measures.
Now you can just walk there.

[@WildBluntHickok]

To be fair "you can just walk there" is true of Area 51 as well (not counting the fence of course).

[@angelachouinard4581]

Yes there was such a place and for along time the locals were not too sure what was going on there but now most people know what was there and do not approach. Just another no go zone of which there are many in the former Soviet Union. To be fair, there are many in a lot of other countries

[@mellissadalby1402]

I have greatly enjoyed every installment of output from "The History Guy". I do believe that the 5-minute format, "keeps us all wanting more". It also helps me to remember each subject fragment because it does not overflow my input buffer.

[@dexterkoula3407]

congrats, youtube's algorithm has selected you for untold fame and fortumes

[@JH-ji6cj]

The AI and bots will *require* improper grammar and misspelling to pass as human

[@TheMattc999]

Dexter Koula and what exactly are fortumes?

[@IETCHX69]

Dexter Koula ... Ooo? May ? Think you vah-ree mooch !

[@oldnelson4298]

I've always wanted a fortume for my mantelpiece.

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

Endorheic lakes are inherently enormously vulnerable. Relatively small-scale activities, like the diverting of a single river for agricultural purposes, can result in quite substantial consequences. Non-endorheic lakes are largely self-regulating: if the amount of water flowing into a typical lake (say, Lake Erie) is reduced by even a quite substantial percentage (say, because someone diverts the entire flow of the Detroit River via an enormous pipeline to Mexico), the lake level would drop by a few inches, resulting in less outflow (via the Niagara in this case), at which point a new equilibrium would be reached and the lake would not be further reduced. But endorheic lakes don't have that safety valve. If a major inflow is significantly reduced, the lake level will often drop and drop and drop,and the new equilibrium, if one can be reached at all, will feature a much smaller lake. For another good example of this in action, see Lake Chad.

[@BarryKennedy]

Logic, what a concept.

[@dfwai7589]

@@BarryKennedy isn't it?

[@shawngilliland243]

@Jonadab the Unsightly One - I like the example of Lake Chad. Thank you for all the good information!

[@larrytruelove7112]

Jonadab the Unsightly One
I grew up in South eastern Michigan. Correct me if I am wrote, but I think the Detroit River conducts water between Lake Erie and Lake St. Claire. I do not know which direction the water flows but I always thought it flows toward Lake Erie.
When I became an adult and left Michigan, I decided that a lot of SE Michigan was one big swamp or wetland. That’s probably an exaggeration on my part but the water table of SE Michigan is higher than any place I remember living.

[@QuantumRift]

What about the Salton Sea..another shining example of human stupidity on a huge scale.

[@gui18bif]

Extremely well presented, thank you.
Sad we lost it.

[@chrisnorman9980]

Reminiscent of China’s “War on the Sparrow”.

[@Frenchylikeshikes]

I love your channel. You treat so many different subjects, and NOT mainstrem, and IT'S GREAT !!!!

[@AZ-vg6li]

Thank you History Guy,as always,great content and great food for thought.

[@woody1778]

The Aral sea is already starting to come back to to efforts by the Kazakhstan government. Fishing is already returning to the Kazakh region.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I mention that at the end- a dam has allowed a comeback in the north, although that will be far smaller than the sea was historically.

[@calanpeet]

Dear THG, can you ad a time stamp for that comment? I listened to the video again and did not find this comment. PS; you are an inspiration! My 8 year old daughter wants to do a "This Is the History Girl" video with me. ,-)

[@p51mustang24]

The efforts have been limited at best. A small part of the sea is being restored, but it is a VERY small part. Kazakstan simply doesnt have the money to fix the whole lake, and they would need the cooperation of the other states that border the basin anyways.

[@Mike-zl4km]

@@p51mustang24 Kazakstan also only controls the northen river. While the southern river is controlled by Uzbekistan and are still irrigated irresponsibly.. they also believe that their might be oil under the sea floor and it will be easier to access if it's on land rather underneath a sea...

[@trevoncowen9198]

Would it be possible to get it back to normal size

[@qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqw]

I think Stalin just wanted to do as much damage to the world in his lifetime as possible.
Genghis: I killed 20 million people over 200 years
Stalin: I killed 20 million people in 30 years - and the biggest sea in Asia

[@gastonbell108]

He had a psychopath's casual disgust for humanity and human emotions, as well as things like culture, the environment, dignity, etc. Just life in general. Like Hitler, he had no real joys or purpose other than dominating everyone and everything he encountered. Ivan the Terrible was his idol, I believe.

[@jw6948]

Sounds like Donald Dump 😏

[@austrolouis124]

j w nothing like Trump.

[@loveofmangos001]

The Russians did have a secret Cold War base on one of the islands in the Aral Sea.

[@sorsorsor11]

@@jw6948 Didn1t knew Trump smashed 20,000,000 people in a bloody war. Are you sure you understand history?

[@richardbrant5728]

WOW! This is an old one. It's nice to see how the production of your videos has improved over the years. Thanks for the information and entertainment.

[@johncosta8538]

History Guy is now bars above anything the History Channel does.

[@johnbuchan3678]

Excellent, as always. At 3:18 . . the Greco Bactrian empire extended so far "west" . . should be "east"

[@gardensofthegods]

I saw this some years ago in a National Geographic magazine and the thought that a sea of that size could vanish was hard to imagine... but the convincing pictures were just so shocking

[@davezwick5539]

Lance is great! One detail: Those are the 3 biggest lakes by area. Lake Baikal is the biggest freshwater lake by volume.

[@tonyennis3008]

When I was in high school in the 13th century, my history teacher would be droning on and on, but would sometimes stop and say, "ok, this one is for free". We always perked up and listened - he would give us a relevant factoid that was interesting but would not be on the tests. Then, he'd go back to droning about the origins of the sandwich or something about a rock that was in all ways average.
Everything you say invokes the old "for free" excitement.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Thank you!

[@Mujangga]

You were in high school in the 13th century?

[@tonyennis3008]

I am pretty old. Or my knees tell me I am, at any rate.

[@tonyennis3008]

Yes, I am pretty crunchy.

[@sandrablanchette2239]

The 13th century remark was a joke.

[@sambrewer2306]

My favorite videos so far. All the nuclear weapon , the airliner vids, and coastguard ones. My favorite vids overall are the norad, the soviet sub vid, titanic Thompson and the guy who took off in a plane on accident.
Thanks for the great history.

[@BuzzinVideography]

Your basement has the greatest decor ever. And it’s always changing!

[@DidivsIvlianvs]

3:15 You meant Bactria stretched EAST to China, not west.

[@cattitude16]

Didivs Ivlianvs I was just going to make the same comment.

[@christopherlynch3314]

Well unless they went the long way round!

[@dozer1642]

China was antibacterial.

[@tolfan4438]

As an American I can tell you we always get that confused our continent the right hand side of the map is the east side but then when you turn the globe around it's the west side

[@MikSrf723]

@@tolfan4438 west is west and east is east no matter how much you flip the globe. Unless you flip it upside down. Lol

[@Bobalicious]

Always a pleasure to learn from you. Thank you.

[@jimland4359]

I couple of years ago I was playing Hearts of Iron 4. If you don't know it is a strategy game set in WWII. I thought it was awesome that the game developers included a full sided Aral Sea. Such great attention to detail that virtually no one notices.

[@indeedmyson]

I actually learned about this in highschool geography; always remembered it, very drastic change.

[@andyrichardsvideovlogs8835]

Outstanding video. Love your opening metaphor of History blowing away as dust. And very appropriate in this example. You posit the argument that Geography is intrinsically a part of History. I would go further and postulate that everything is intrinsically part of History.

[@valsblackcatsrule8740]

What a sad story. They would need a miracle to bring the lake back. Thank goodness for pictures. Like the dodo, that is how the lake will be remembered. Thank you for sharing a part of your day with us!

[@kenhutch7727]

Finally someone put it all together and now I understand why the sea became barren

[@greg1268]

Here's an idea for you. How about a video on YOUR history and how you became the history guy? I am interested to know what forces resulted in such a fascinating UA-cam channel.

[@gordoncavis1374]

Yet another concise, interesting, historical vignette. Thank you.

[@tonyface2007]

Brilliant series Sir, i stumbled across your channel and been watching all of your uploads for the past few days.
I have been struck by your administration for unsung heroes. Although from a Nuclear / Chemical industry background, i have always had a keen interest in history. It is not possible to understand anything unless you understand the historical context in which it sits.
It rankles when i see history written by omission, examples play up the British contingent contribution made by Montgomery in the North Africa campaign, and play down the Anzac/ Indian contribution especially early on when fighting the Italian.
I am a loyal British subject, but realise that as well as all the good, many of the wars even to this day are imperialism and the real reasons for wars are usually subverted.
Ideas Simon Bolivar, Cortez, Indira Ghangi 1971 Bangladesh, Longhiwala, Siege of Malta, Siege of Vienna, Anji Jalut, Russo - Mongol wars, dare i say 1812/Canada...great work...

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Great ideas! I will be researching and working some in soon. Thank you!

[@tonyface2007]

Thanks for the reply i also wanted to just say a personal thank you for making the Saraghari video. Just for information as you stated the Sikhs are from Punjab which literally means the land of the five rivers. Panj -meaning five and Ab meaning river. I am a non baptized Sikh myself. The same creed as the 101 Punjabi mortar battalion that fought off 50 tanks and 4000 infantry at Longewhala in 1971, and fought Alexander the Great to a standstill at Hydaspis river with the prospect of more to come, thanks again.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Napoleon said that "History is a fable that everyone has agreed on." If you think of most history as PR(or maybe BS) written by the victors to "spin" the story(for the greater good) to make them look good, you will be able to start to learn about history.

[@BillDickinson]

Please do one of your shows on the Salton Sea. Really enjoy your your history UA-cam videos, keep up the great work 👍

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

The worst part of this disaster is the USSR used some islands in the sea to test bio weapons. Look up "Vozrozhdeniya Island" it is also known as "Rebirth Island" it housed Aralsk-7 along with nearby "Komsomolskiy Island" the detailed operations conducted on these islands came to light in defector Ken Alibek's book "Biohazard". During the open air testing it was thought the islands would always be isolated by water unfortunately that wasn't the case.

[@aaronpcs2]

Once again another fascinating episode. Thanks History Guy :D
I have an episide suggestion.
I'm sure you have heard of it, generally know as the Catalpa Rescue. A slice of convict history that definitely deserves to be known :)

[@maquabear5242]

I am American Indian. I've often heard that Indians were given Small Pox infected blankets, but I've never heard it expounded upon. Please expound upon this subject. Thank you, love your channel. Which I found due to 'Answers With Joe' channel.

[@maxpayne2574]

I live near a dead end basin that was nearly dry from the 1930 until 1995 when we had a extremely heavy snow fall and a fast melt in the spring. Now there are places that were dry that have 20ft of water. Normal amounts of annual precipitation are enough to maintain the lake level until the next drought strikes.

[@goodiesfondant1]

I love history as well and have really enjoyed your channel. How about the history of Lake Bonnaville?

[@davidmicheletti6292]

Resent efforts to repair damage done the the Aral Sea in the form of returning some of the flow of water back into the sea once more. This has had some limited effect on bringing the lake back again. It is just a start but a positive one.

[@edwardtupper6374]

NZ has a lake of one thousand islands - Manapouri.
If you visit I highly recommend the tour of the hydro dam.

[@jonathankirchberger5526]

2:40 was anyone else thinking bacteria

[@KaityKat117]

was anyone *_not_* thinking bacteria?

[@cephasmartin8593]

I remember seeing programs on TV in the last several years about people using Google Earth and discovering ships in the "desert". Having lived through these years I knew the situation, and it's indeed sad to think that it was a man-made disaster.

[@rvasquez8057]

"We have met the enemy and he is us". Walt Kelly

[@jimjambananaslam3596]

Or just Communists really lol

[@scottjustscott3730]

I'm familiar with the Scythians defeat by Alexander because I listened to Iron Maiden when I was a youth.🇬🇧

[@vintagethrifter2114]

Iron Maiden's 'The Trooper' was was based on Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' which took place during the Crimean War, the war fought between Great Britain and Russia over the control and influence of this same area. Interesting fact: The last survivor of the Crimean War died April 3,2004; 148 years after it ended.

[@demonhunter635]

Loved it back then for the music, love it today for the meaning.

[@GioMarron]

Alexander the Great
His name brought fear to the hearts of men!
I’m currently reading Alexander’s story by Arrian and have had that tune running around me head for weeks

[@Alan-in-Bama]

Thanks a Lot History Guy... I just found your channel and I had to subscribe, because I’m a history and aviation Nerd.
Now I’m binge watching your channel and getting Nothing accomplished ! 😁

[@sheryldixon1395]

You might consider doing a video about the Aral smallpox outbreak, from a Soviet bioweapons lab on a former island in the Aral sea

[@12gageshot]

Yes, i would like to see a video about "Anthrax Island".

[@kevincorbin6273]

Wonderful story telling, thanks for the entertainment

[@markbowles2382]

its nice to see you touch on the ancients history guy - I love herodutus, plutarch, thucydides, homer, tacitus, and when you talked about Alexander and Darius and the Scythians i figured out you like the ancients too.... again, thanks, p.s. I saw or heard somewhere where they had turned one of the rivers back (into the Aral) and were trying to negate some of the damage, I wish them luck, any fresh water lake dried up anywhere is a heart breaker , Thanks again sir, keep em coming, and happy halloween from Jacksonville, FL.

[@jhendric98]

I really love this channel. This particular intro and outro sections are a bit hard as the music is booming your voice becomes voice under.

[@maxnikolenko2302]

I love how your history touches on all parts of the world, not just american history.

[@claytonholton2749]

Thank you for that soo much better than anything produced b Hollywood! Blessings!

[@kjamison5951]

Another cracking episode! Thank you!

[@timothyproksch2915]

I always wanted the story on this thanks

[@inkslinger6156]

Again another great video on history. Thank you for sharing

[@TheMosinCrate]

Just imagine if we stopped our expensive wars between each other and instead spent that money and manpower correcting such things. How quickly our damage would be undone.

[@sambrewer2306]

I believe that one cure for humanity is to discover another form of life. Then maybe instead of humans grouping together for for things like ethnicity maybe all humans will unite together for the same purposes. Or maybe that's a movie plot.

[@johnslaughter7110]

The Mosin Crate John Lennon felt the same way...

[@workhardism]

Nice dream that many have had, but how do you convince the Adolf Hitlers that exist in every generation to just play nicely without war? LoL. It's gonna take alot more then a great big liberal Democrat, Neville Chamberlain style hug, because the Genghis Khans actually want war to accomplish their ends. History proves that placating evil only emboldens it. Because of this, the piecenicks very often infacto create more war then the war hawks do, when the military has to be sent clean up the messes left in the wake of the naive anti-war doves and the results of their self hating left-wing agenda!

[@jeffl2558]

@@johnslaughter7110 He might have wrote a song about it, but his actions spoke the opposite with how he beat his family like a drum.

[@johnslaughter7110]

@@jeffl2558 Agreed

[@ElementofKindness]

Aral Sea is one of the more fascinating geological disasters, because of its great scale, and how much it changed inside of one person's lifetime.
While not nearly of the same scale, but nonetheless impactful, it reminds me a lot of California's Owens Lake.

[@ibobeko4309]

More like Salton Sea
.

[@Digital_Photog1995]

Thank you for enlightening us.

[@vonkerman8168]

I have been binging your videos all day today, you have amazing facts, I have subscribed, and I love your content! You do an amazing job detailing little known stuff in history. A suggestion. Please do a video about the Salton Sea in California. It is an amazing, and sad piece of history. Thanks again!

[@donb7113]

This is probably my favorite channel.

[@teiamwrecker]

Anyone else here because the history guy is one of the best channels on UA-cam

[@mikepie6988]

Love all your videos man been helping me out alot I love history mainly the period between the french revolution and the cold war but all of it fascinates me very much. I'd love to see a video of yours regarding the foo fighters of ww2, I feel like it would be really nice to see u cover the topic. Thanks.

[@FSEVENMAN]

They need to figure out how to get that thing full again

[@strangerhorse5209]

Another epic history lesson. I like your dry wit. A confluence between history and geography? lol. I am very familiar with the water wars, even currently going on. They say out here in Oregon that a lot of blood is in the water. "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting". There is fascinating history about Tumalo (Shoshone for 'thirsty land') and how the irrigation system in Central Oregon came to be. Swally and his partner (later hung in effigy before suddenly leaving town) sold land (~1890's) and homesteads with water rights before the water got there. It changed where the railroad went through in 1911.

[@strangerhorse5209]

ps, do you know that we the people of the USA do not own any water even if it rains on your property?

[@larryg3326]

It depends where you are in the US, different states have different water rights rules. In Oregon, you can collect rain water but do not automatically own water that flows through your land from and to somewhere else.

[@Potato-Eye]

Confluence. Great use of diction. Please keep up the good work

[@ziggy2shus624]

The Salton Sea in south eastern California is also drying up, although of no great historical importance. In 1905 the entire Colorado River flow was diverted into the Salton Sea for 2 years, due to inept engineering. In the 1950s and 60s there was a Salton Sea shoreline housing boom, but most of those homes are now abandoned. Large numbers of fish dye off due to the increased salinity of the water. Surface water temp is over 90 deg in the summer. There have been proposals to divert water into the Salton, but everyone in the desert area wants the water.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I may do an episode on the Salton Sea. the current water crises actually creates a great deal of risk if the Salton goes dry and winds start spreading the dust.

[@mountmepython2206]

The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered just found your channel and love it. I would like to know more on the Salton Sea.

[@JH-ji6cj]

@@mountmepython2206 ...glanced up to see your name and just about spit out my coffee!

[@mountmepython2206]

@@JH-ji6cj LoL I was looking for something catchy a long time ago when I created the acct and I was watching something about Monty python and there you go, thanks

[@em1osmurf]

watched a nat geo special on the disappearance of the aral. good vid.

[@benb.6486]

Thank you very much for this lesson :) I will very soon have watched all your videos !

[@vicmclaglen1631]

Don't forget the USS S-5! Great story with an awesome quote in it

[@KEVINTHEWS]

This one made me sad somehow. I'm reminded of our own Salton Sea, even though the circumstances and history are much different...

[@STITCHUSA]

What do you think future holds for Aral Sea?
Thank you for such a great video ! Subscribed!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

STITCH. USA there is a UN project to restore the North Aral sea. I guess time will tell on whether anyone can make the investment.

[@johnellington1932]

Value the pain live some countries...

[@p51mustang24]

It's a matter of money to fix the infrastructure. The locals don't have the money, and to what extent they do, they don't have the will / don't care.
Keep in mind there are multiple border countries, and they need to cooperate.

[@RailfanDownunder]

Fascinating.... Superb

[@v.e.7236]

I see similarities w/ this and the Salton Sea, in So. Cal. Environmental mismanagement. Another gem.

[@kevinmcclelland3845]

And the same thing happened right here in California with the dissappearence of Tulare Lake. It was usually described as being the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi River. A shadow of its former self appears during very wet seasons.

[@dmfraser1444]

There are some people in California who seem to want to preserve the Salton Sea but nothing gets done. When I lived in LA I would hear proposals every couple years but they were all pretty expensive. I am not sure if it needs saving. Though if it dried up, the amount of minerals that would start to get blown in the wind is considered a health hazard. Perhaps just siphoning sea water into it to maintain the level would be enough. Being below sea level a siphon to the Salton sea would be enough and would not need pumps once the flow was started.
As for the Aral sea, what can be done would have to be left to experts in Russia. But it is a matter of political will as well as funding.

[@1bobini]

Great history, sad to hear about the demise of a Great Lake. 🙁

[@passedhighschoolphysics6010]

Nice video. Same thing in California at the Salton Sea.

[@dmfraser1444]

Not the same thing. The Salton Sea was created in the first place by an accident, think in 1906, where a canal being built to San Diego burst its banks. The Salton Sea is a man made creation and is drying up as it has no water source besides leakage of irrigation water from the farms at the south end. There is no extraction of water from the Salton Sea. I have been to Bombay Beach and Salton City there and have smelled how bad a lake of brine can be. In another 50 years or so, the Salton Sea will be gone and the accident of man will have disappeared.

[@bofty]

Basically the opposite

[@dmfraser1444]

It is similar in that the Salton sea is slowly evaporating away as well and the original issue was created by the incompetence of human beings. The flood that created the Salton Sea was a human caused accident and through neglect the thing is turning into an ecological nightmare. OK, that only makes it similar, not the same.

[@johnklar5131]

DM Fraser No neglect, there is no input to the Salton Sea, it was doomed from the beginning.

[@michaelmoorrees3585]

As mentioned before, the Salton Sea was formed accidentally, by human activity. But It does apply to the Owens Valley, and Owens Lake which existed before Mulholland's great aqueduct project, diverting water to Los Angeles. Still threatens Mono Lake's existence.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Valley

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

The sea is actually returning. There has been significant improvements in the last decade

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

A concentrated effort has brought back a part of the sea in the North.

[@abcdef-cf2uk]

Hi History Guy!
Thank you for what you do!
Very enjoyable, very thought provoking.
A new glimmer of hope for young budding minds everywhere.
Here's my suggestion;
As all trace of them vanish at the hands and bulldozers of developers, can you give us some insights into to Nike missile sites which durring the cold war were scattered about the suburbs of America?
Many thanks again

[@mountmepython2206]

There are several missile silos in central Texas around the Abilene area. Atlas missiles iirc

[@abcdef-cf2uk]

@@mountmepython2206 That ought to be a sight to see

[@georgemartin4963]

It's my understanding that the Aral sea is slowly recovering.

[@rudolfyakich6653]

Dear History Guy,. your channel has filled a void in my curiosity. I subscribed and have dived in. The 1565 Siege
of Malta has been on my mind since I read the book 18 years ago. l have read Conquest of Mexico by Verbal Diaz three times so far. Recently I had a 62 year old man tell me that he assumed things written in books were not to be believed. Could this be be why mistakes are remade?

[@RichieRouge206]

A fascinating and quite horrifying too. What a tragedy 😔 a superb video as always

[@alfredogarcia7586]

Nice, educational and informative. I love history and have many history themes (my favorite is WW2). I was wondering if at all posible you can made a video of a detailed tour of your office. Best regards.

[@rontoews5570]

In 2008 I took a long bus tour through Central Asia. We spent some time in Turkmenistan. At one point we crossed one of the canals which diverted the Oxus River from the Aral Sea to irrigation projects. Our Turkmen guide (reflecting the Turkmen government line) explained that the net benefit of the whole diversion/irrigation project was positive and the loss of the Aral sea was worth it. So the "tragedy" is not obvious to all concerned.

[@alexanderbonardi4514]

Would have been interesting to hear about Vozrozhdeniya Island too.

[@davidharris6581]

Interesting to note that Lake Victoria was not eve "Discovered" by British Explorers until after the Crimean War. The Russian Navy was already on the Aral Sea by that time.

[@conanthedestroyer7123]

How about a history lesson on desert storm and weapons of mass destruction please.

[@emilypheil1460]

The history of hairdryers/curlers/products would be really interesting :) I do know about "spit curls" and have actually used a similar technique on my hair, but with water, not spit lol.

[@greatnortherntroll6841]

Fascinating, fun, and informative! I'm spreading the word: "Ya gotta check out The History Guy on UA-cam" !!!
Simply Brilliant!

[@albanerobert]

Thank god you have a history degree .

[@jasminewood395]

Wow this history is still great in 2020!

[@joeyjamison5772]

"Where communism goes...
Nothing Grows."

[@AN-it8dp]

Joey Jamison hahaha

[@johnburns4017]

This sounds like some irrigation schemes in California that failed.

[@gdwnet]

Swap communism for civilisation because we are all guilty.

[@robertbell525]

@pencilpauli looking around the world, the capitalist nations are the cleanest and safest. Not even close.

[@johnzahra7091]

Great informative videos. How about a short video on the history of wine service? Or the origins of the Sommelier?

[@anatolib.suvarov6621]

There is another issue in the Aral. One of the (former) islands was a Soviet chemical, and biological weapons research facility. Eventually the Soviets closed it, and removed most of the dangerous items, or destroyed them in place (with an incinerator built for that purpose) As was far to common in the Soviet system, insufficient supplies were allocated for this distant post over the years, and many of the military commanders reallocated the meager supplies they were issued. One of the primary examples being the fuel allocation for the incinerator. The housing units, for troops, scientists, officers, and their families used coal for heat, and hot water, as did the incinerator for destruction of the research residue. IE cadavers of test subjects (mostly animals), and samples of agents, both chemical, and bacteriological. During the winter, the commanders often redirected some of the coal to heat housing units, and cook food, as opposed to fully, and properly incinerating the research residue.
The ash from the incinerator was hauled to the far end of the island, and buried in unmarked locations. Now, with the water having receded, but the winds continuing to blow, the now permanently dry ground is more susceptible to wind driven erosion, and the contaminated ash from incomplete incinerator decontamination is being blown around.
Bet you can see where this problem is going.
All glory to the Great Socialist revolution! (Sarcasm intended)

[@lesb_socal]

Topic suggestion: Here in Calif the central valley once had a lake that was destroyed by man . I would like to kniw the history of that debacle.

[@mikecowen6507]

Les B Mono Lake?

[@lesb_socal]

@@mikecowen6507 It was Lake Tulare. Its sources were drained off for ag and urban use.

[@mikecowen6507]

Les B Ok, thanks! They did quite a number on Mono Lake too!

[@arkbien9303]

Yeah, I now remember that. How sad. There's is a mountain, don't know the name off the top of my head, outside of the Fairbanks region of Alaska, that has been turned into a hole. An entire mountain--trees, tundra, the ecosystem that goes with it...and all the wildlife that cannot be sustained there now, and the greater challenge of finding food since many people who live there still supplement their local groceries with subsistence hunting and fishing. You can see it on the drive to Fairbanks, an ugly testament--now abandoned--to the thoughtless stripping of natural resources, just like the Soviets and the Aral Sea, although not to the same scale.
This darned planet is the only one we've got. Most of us put our "human waste" in the appropriate place. In other words, we don't "go" where we eat and sleep, eh? So why do we do these things to the only sources we have--not like we can hop an UBER and go to the next rock in the system and snag it all from, say, Pluto or Mars, right?

[@jacklarson6281]

Tule Lake in northern Modoc County Ca. was also drained for agriculture following the second world war.

[@Nikibul]

Great video. Aral was never a fresh-water lake though. It was very much salty

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

It was more properly described as brackish, in that it had more salt than freshwater but the salinity was well below that of seawater. The sources are fresh water, and NASA describes it as having been a fresh water lake. Of course, as the sea reduced the salinity increased.

[@njm3211]

There is an active project to restore much of the lake by returning water to the basin.

[@russwoodward8251]

Wow. So sad. Thanks for the research.

[@thekekronomicon590]

You forgot to mention the 100 sq mile sland with anthrax dispersed over it in the middle of it that isn't an island anymore

[@danandkiko]

That's an insane piece of history!

[@luciusavenus8715]

Your place is nice.