CHAPTER 15 SECTION 2

I) the shrinking Aral Sea
-lost 80% of its water
-Central Asian Leaders are facing one of "the earths largest environmental tragedies"

A) A Disappearing Lake
-the aral sea recieves most of its water from the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya
-before the mid 60's, those lakes delivered 13 cubic miles of water every year
-in the 50's, officials began taking water from these rivers to irrigate cotton fields
-Kara Kum canal is 850 miles long
           a) large irrigation canals like so much water from the rivers that the Aral slowed greatly
-the sea began to evaporate

B)Effects of Agriculture
-runoff picks up pesticides and fertilizers from cotton fields
       a)these chemicles ended up in the river with devistating effects
-all of the 24 native fish of the Aral are dead.
-retreating waters of the Aral exposed Fertilizers, Salts, and Pesticides
           a)wind storms picked up these sediments are deposited them in nearby areas.
            b) this resulted in a sharp rise of disease such as throat cancer and other respiratory diseases.
             c) Dysentery, typhoid, and hepititus are also more apperant
-child mortality rates in asia are of the upmost in the world

C) Saving the Aral
-in order to keep the sea in the condition it is, 9 of the 18 million acres of agriculture need to be destinguished
       a)farmers depeding on agriculture would develope hardships if that were to happen
- many argue that only drastic measures can save the Aral

II) The Russian Winter
-though far from asia, siberia is also familiar with hardship.

A)Coping in Siberia
-population of over 32 million people
-winter is harsh
-the most scientifically valuable temperatures recorded came from Siberia
         a) temperature ranges from -90F in the winter and 94F in the summer (city of Verkhoyansk)
          b) thats a span of 180 degrees
          C) temperatures drop so low that basic human activity is painful
-melting snow in the summer results in pools of water liable for masquito and black fly reproduction
-swamps formed from northward rivers and spring rains run into still frozen water further north
         a)this results in black clouds of pesty insects
-the climate affects construction in siberia
        a)permafrost makes the ground iron-hard
         b)heated buildings thaw permafrost
        c)thawing ground results in buildings sinking, tilting, and eventual toppling
           d) to resolve this, builders construct homes a few feet off the ground sitting on concrete pillars

B) War and "General Winter"
-russias climate has both pros and cons for inhabitants
      a)when Nepoleon Bonapart attempted to invade russia, the people of moscow burned their shelter down and the winter took care of their threat
      b) he lost around 10,000 troops

III) Crossing the "Wild East"
-at the end of the 19th centruy, siberia was like americas wild west
travle was dangerous and slow
-due to that, Russias empire started the Trans-Siberian-Railway
      a)this eventually linked Moscow and the pacific port of Vladivostok

A) an Enormous Project
- the distance covered was more than 5,700 square miles
       a)the tracks had to pass 7 time ones
-between 1891 and 1903, 70,000 workers moved 77million cubic feet of earth
       a) cleared more than 1000,000 acres of forest
        c) and built bridges over several major rivers

B) Resource Wealth in Siberia
-the massive project wasnt just to speed up travel
      a)another goal was to populate siberia due to its abundant resources
-tens years after completion in 1904, nearly 5 million settlers had taken the railway from European Russia to settle in Siberia
       b)they were mostly peasents and farmers
-resources such as oil and iron ore were consumed drastically
-the railroad went on to aiding political and economical developement of russia.


SUMMERY
the Aral sea is dying out due to irrigation, pollution, and evaporation. pollution has greatly increased diseases, and the only way to keep the sea in the state it is now is by discontinueing 9 million acres of argriculture, which would cripple farmers.

the russian winter is severe and harsh reaching lows of -90F and this challenges inhabitants.
swamps over frozen water results in black clouds of pests, and the harsh winters kill of those unprepared to face it. a railroad ranging 5,700 miles from moscow to Vladivostok resulted in settlement of siberia. the railway was built to improve travel and to use siberias abundant natural resources of coal and irone ore.
-