“The level of the Caspian Sea has fallen to a critical level. This may lead to the reduction of the rivers flowing into it, including the deltas of the Volga and Ural rivers.”
Oku.AzAs reported by “Izvestia” with reference to “Izvestia”, this was stated by Piotr Zavyalov, deputy director of the Institute of Oceanology named after PPShirshov, at the meeting of the presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) dedicated to efficient use of the country’s water resources.
According to the scientist, a decrease in the average level of the Caspian Sea has been observed since the mid-1990s. It is currently at 28.7 m, one of the lowest in the history of observation. The same situation occurred in 1977, after which the volume of water in the sea increased. Whether this will happen now, experts cannot predict with certainty.
“It is extremely difficult to predict processes in the Caspian Sea. There are many factors that existing models take into account. In addition, the sea is divided into sectors between five coastal countries and there is the problem of obtaining homogeneous data obtained according to uniform methodologies,” he said. Zavyalov.
He added that if the volume of water in the Caspian continues to decrease, this will affect the deltas of the rivers that flow into the sea, mainly the Volga and the Urals. According to some estimates, the surface area of the surrounding ecosystems may decrease by 10%. At this time, the flora and fauna will change.
