Here is a link to a video NASA have posted which shows how the Aral Sea (once the fourth largest internal sea in the world) has become smaller since the 1960s when the two the course of the two rivers that fed it were diverted to support the USSR cotton industry. The impact on the region’s physical and human geography has been huge, affecting the landscape, settlements and employment as well as health and migration. Since the construction of a dam, the northern lake has recovered some of its size, but the southern lake has continued to shrink. The Aral Sea is now about 10% of its original size in the 1960s. Much of the area is now known as The Aralkum Desert.
We looked at these NASA satellite images together in sequence, but this short video links them together and also provides a brief summary of what has happened in the area which is a useful summary of what we discussed if you want to look again or share it with your family.