Chapter 02 of 5
The Cotton Diversion
How rerouting two rivers redrew the map of Central Asia.
- Visionary Hubris
White Gold Fever
In the 1960s, Soviet planners aimed to turn the USSR into a global cotton powerhouse. They viewed the Aral Sea's water as a wasted resource.
- Mechanism
The Great Diversion
Engineers tapped into the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the Aral's only lifeblood. They redirected the flow into massive irrigation canals.
- Scale
A Man-Made River
The Karakum Canal was the project's crown jewel. It stretched over 1,300 kilometers, slicing through the desert to carry water south.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
Why did up to 75% of the water diverted from the rivers never reach the crops?
🏜️ Why is the Aral Sea Dying?
- 01A Sea in the SteppeThe geography of the endorheic basin before the intervention.
- 02The Cotton DiversionHow rerouting two rivers redrew the map of Central Asia.
- 03The Aralkum DesertThe birth of a new desert from a former seabed.
- 04Climate of the VoidHow a disappearing lake broke the local weather.
- 05A Divided HorizonThe Kokaral Dam and the permanent map of the future.