Disaster by design : the Aral Sea and its lessons for sustainability / edited by Michael R. Edelstein, Astrid Cerny, Abror Gadaev.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Edelstein, Michael R.

Cerny, Astrid.

Gadaev, Abror.

Series:

Research in social problems and public policy ; v. 20.

Research in social problems and public policy, 0196-1152 ; v. 20

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Environmental disasters--Aral Sea Watershed (Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan).

Environmental disasters.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (506 p.)

Place of Publication:

Bingley : Emerald, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Disaster by Design: The Aral Sea, Lessons for Sustainability addresses the impacts of the Aral Sea disaster. The virtual disappearance of what was the world's fourth largest inland body of water was neither natural nor accidental. It was the result of deliberate policy decisions. The sea's disappearance is hardly the entire disaster. Instead, we find an accumulation of cascading effects, beginning with the decision to grow cotton, reached remotely in Moscow, that altered the farming practices surrounding the Aral Sea. Unsustainable choices resulted in soil salinization, water pollution and toxic blowing sands, impacting the entire bioregion and beyond. A remote island was used to test biological weapons. Uzbekistan, most notably Karakalpakstan, was the autonomous republic at the epicenter of the disaster. Sustainable prospects exist, including renewable energy, permaculture and strengthening the social fabric amidst poverty and ecological collapse. This volume of Research in Social Problems and Public Policy is essential reading for everyone concerned with averting environmental disaster and instead creating livable, sustainable communities. Disaster by Design is a clarion call and an insightful study of Central Asia today.

Contents:

Section one : the multiple disasters of the Aral Sea / Michael R. Edelstein

An overview of the Aral Sea disaster / Abror Gadaev, Zikrilla Yasakov

Going with the flow : economic impacts from the overuse of irrigation / Ilkhomjon Niyazov, Farhod Ahrorov, with Astrid Cerny, Michael R. Edelstein

Pollution and salinization : compounding the Aral Sea disaster / Farhod Ahrorov, Olim Murtazaev, Bahtiyor Abdullaev

Death and rebirth island : secrets in the U.S.S.R.'s culture of contamination / Michael R. Edelstein

Potential climate and hydrological changes in the Aral Sea Region / James R. Miller, Imtiaz Rangwala, Debjani Ghatak

The significance of being downstream : Uzbek concerns over the Rogun Dam / Murad Askarov

Section two : the Aral disaster in historical perspective / Michael R. Edelstein

A last movement for a lost sea / Yusup S. Kamalov

Aral sea analogs in the American west / Howard Horowitz

Disaster by design : the multiple caused catastrophes of the Aral Sea / Michael R. Edelstein

Section three : cotton, cotton everywhere, but not a drop to drink : agriculture as the villain / Astrid Cerny, Michael R. Edelstein

What went wrong : the case of un-ecological agriculture / Michael Wilson

The nonarable Aral : loss of productivity in Uzbek agriculture / Farhod Ahrorov, Ilkhomjon Niyazov

Cotton in our ears : water, agriculture, and climatic change in the post Aral context / Shavkat Hasanov ... [et al.]

Water footprints : integrated water resource management to the rescue in the Aral Sea Basin / Inna Rudenko ... [et al.]

Section four : adapting to catastrophe : cascading social impacts of the Aral Sea disaster / Michael R. Edelstein

The tragedy of the Aral : counting on cotton, a region loses its people / Astrid Cerny

Reflections on growing up in the Karakalpakstan Region / Aziz Murtazaev

An unhealthy place to live : prioritizing public health and addressing environmental contamination in Karakalpakstan / Ramona Lall

A physician's observations of Karakalpak health / Rakhmon U. Arzikulov, Laylo L. Almatova, Saodat Safarova

Ecological change in the Aral Region : adaptations by the spoonbill and black-crowned night heron / Mukhtor Turaev

Environmental change as a threat to the Khorezm heritage / Gavkhar Salaevna Durdieva

Whose disaster is it anyway? : romancing the world heritage status in Uzbekistan / Flavia Alaya

Section five : designing solutions : social, ecological and technological approaches / Michael R. Edelstein

New thinking and new approaches : a bioregional response to the lost Aral Sea / Yusup S. Kamalov

Renewable social energy : Mahalla / Lola Gulyamova

Clearing the pipes : providing potable water through well restoration / Abror Gadaev, Gulmira Boboeva

Renewing with renewables : direct solar energy use in developing countries / William J. Makofske

Getting the salt out : innovative solar technologies for rural clean water / Eshkuvat Arzikulov, Qamariddin N. Srojev

Renewable energy as a key factor for sustainable development in Uzbekistan / Ashraf Khodjaev

Permaculture restoration of the Aral Sea watershed / Andrew Jones

Section six : lessons of the Aral Sea disaster : implications for social learning / Michael R. Edelstein

Aral Sea demise as a dry run for climate change : from cumulative to cascading impacts / Michael R. Edelstein

Highlands-to-sea cooperation in the Aral Sea basin : linking or sinking? / Michael H. Glantz.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Print version record

ISBN:

9781283936545

1283936542

9781781903766

178190376X

OCLC:

823719503