Cotton the destroyer

Due to Soviet era policies to divert water for cotton irrigation, not only one but two of the largest inland bodies of water are very close to extinction. The Aral Sea has receded so much, that there is not a drop as far as the eye can see. The Aral Sea use to be one of the great fisheries of the world, now it is litered with ships stuck in the dried mud and surrounded by human misery on an immense scale.

Now, Lake Balkhash the second largest lake in Central Asia after the Aral Sea is drying up at a very rapid rate. The lake has already "shrunk by over 2,000 square kilometres (770 square miles)."

The next time you buy that ultra-cheap cotton whatever, please remember the what is happening to the Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash, and all of the rivers and ground water supplies that are getting diverted to grow crops in the desert.

For better or worse, we get what we pay for.