Human Environment Interaction:

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Human Environment Interaction

• Aral Sea and Chernobyl

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Copy this chart down in your ISN
Where/ What? Causes of the Problems Whats Happening?
Aral Sea
Chernobyl
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Aral Sea The Disappearing Lake

• The Aral Sea is located between the countries of
  Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
• The Aral Sea used to be the 4th largest sea in
  the world..

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• The Soviet government started irrigation policies
  that diverted (moved) the course of the Aral
  Seas water source to grow cotton and rice.
• The irrigation increased as the government saw an
  increase in the crop product.
• More Crops More Food for the people and money
  for the country

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Side Effects of the Irrigation Systems

• With less water flowing into the Aral Sea, the
  water level decreased.
• The SALINITY (amount of salt in water) increased
  due to an imbalance in the water. The salt made
  the water too toxic for fish or wildlife to live
  in or drink.
• The fishing industry (primary sector) suffered
  greatly since all the fish were dying.

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More Side Effects

• The retreating waters exposed fertilizers and
  pesticides that polluted the area.
• Disease and illness increased as the population
  was exposed to the pollution.
• Jobs in the fishing and shipping industry
  disappeared too.

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Chernobyl
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April, 28, 1986

• Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located near
  Kiev, Ukraine.
• A reactor exploded in the power plant due to a
  poorly planned safety experiment design.

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Effects of the Explosion

• The explosion contaminated 100, 000 sq. miles of
  land in Ukraine and Russia.
• People had to be evacuated from villages and
  forced to resettle in new areas.
• Radiation was spread all over Europe, Asia, and
  North America.

Ariel View of the Burning of Toxic Gases
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Your Turn..

• Trace both of your hands.
• Label each hand on the palm Aral Sea and
  Chernobyl
• For each finger, label the following

What Happened
What Happened
What is it?
What is it?
Causes
Causes
Where
Where
Prevention
Prevention
Aral Sea
Chernobyl