Uzbekistan leases this land for farming—mostly cotton. "If they privatized and let the farmers decide what to grow," says Aral Sea expert Philip Micklin, "you'd see more efficient use of water." ...

but the industry in the country has seen criticisms around poor labour conditions and unsustainable practices that are leading to a rapidly depleting Aral Sea. Cotton needs an enormous amount of ...

When Maria Zadneprovskaya first saw the Aral Sea in 2021, she was overcome by a ... diverted for irrigation in the Soviet era to water cotton and rice fields. By 2010, the surface area had shrunk ...

A photojournalist’s pitch turned into a project that took this team to a remote area rarely covered by news outlets Photojournalist Ebrahim Noroozi had a vision when he pitched a story on the Aral Sea ...