November 27, 2024

The water level in the Caspian Sea has dropped to a minimum level and may not recover. Scientists predicted further shallowing of the reservoir, which is important for Russia.

Pyotr Zavyalov, Deputy Director of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, said that a decrease in the average level of the Caspian Sea has been observed since the 1990s. Now it has reached 28.7 meters, one of the smallest indicators in the history of observations. The situation was similar in 1977, but after that the volume of water in the sea increased. Whether it will recover now, the researchers cannot accurately predict.

 

"It is extremely difficult to predict the processes in the Caspian Sea. There are a lot of factors that current models take into account. In addition, the sea is divided between five coastal countries into sectors, and there is a problem of obtaining homogeneous data obtained using uniform methods," Zavyalov explained.

 

If the Caspian shallows below the critical mark, the deltas of rivers flowing into it, including the Volga and the Urals, may shrink. Then, according to scientists, the ecosystem areas around these reservoirs are at risk of decreasing by 10 percent. In addition, there will be a threat to some types of economic activity in the country.

 

Sources: