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Impact of Climate Change on the Aral Sea and Its Basin

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The Aral Sea

Part of the book series: Springer Earth System Sciences ((SPRINGEREARTH,volume 10178))

Abstract

Climatic and environmental changes in the Aral Sea Basin represent a complex combination of global, regional, and local processes of variable spatial and temporal scales. They are driven by multiple interconnected factors, such as changes in atmospheric circulation associated with global warming, regional hydrological changes caused by mountain-glacial melting and massive irrigation, land-use changes, as well as hydrological, biogeochemical, and meso- and microclimatic changes in the Aral Sea and its quickly expanding exposed dry bottom. Human vulnerability to climate change involves many dimensions, such as exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity and affects various aspects of human-environmental interactions, such as water availability and stress, agricultural productivity and food security, water resources, human health and well-being and many others at various spatial and temporal scales.

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Acknowledgment

I am grateful to Dr. Philip Micklin for helpful comments, data sharing, and editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography and Planning Department and Environmental Studies Program, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, 49401, USA

    Elena Lioubimtseva

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  1. Elena Lioubimtseva
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Correspondence to Elena Lioubimtseva .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Michigan University Dept. Geography, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

    Philip Micklin

  2. Russian Academy of Sciences Inst. Zoology, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N.V. Aladin

  3. Russian Academy of Sciences Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Igor Plotnikov

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Lioubimtseva, E. (2014). Impact of Climate Change on the Aral Sea and Its Basin. In: Micklin, P., Aladin, N., Plotnikov, I. (eds) The Aral Sea. Springer Earth System Sciences, vol 10178. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02356-9_17

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