Soviet Uzbekistan's Cotton Disaster and the Aral Sea

In 1960s Soviet Central Asia, a plan to turn deserts into white gold seemed like triumph. But the relentless demand for cotton by Moscow came at an ecological price no one anticipated. As engineers diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers into massive irrigation canals, the land grew salt-crusted and barren. The water that fed these fields was stolen from the inland sea they called Aral, causing its levels to plummet. We trace the path of the Karakum Canal and the rise of Sharof Rashidov, whose political maneuvering bought time but couldn't stop the drying. This is the story of how political ambition reshaped geography, creating a new desert where ships once sailed, and leaving behind a legacy of poisoned soil and displaced communities that still echoes today.

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