Aqbasty used to be on the shore of the Aral Sea. Today it’s seven miles inland Muynoq, Uzbekistan, is even less fortunate. With the sea receding and little vegetation to bind the soil ...

Its decline is particularly concerning, given the fate of the nearby Aral Sea in central Asia, which was once the world’s fourth-largest lake but is now barely visible on satellite images.

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 ...