[x1stcav]

Tough patooties.

Mankind has been altering the landscape since the beginning of man. get over it leftist enviro-scum.

[txzman]

You do not have a clue how bad the poisoning of this whole area has been by the Russian govt and military. We have missionary friends in Uzbekistan - they tell us the Aral Sea (or what is left of it) is a stinking, rotting mess of heavy metals, chemicals, fertilizer and military research waste.

The Aral Sea itself has been severly drained on top of that, due to the change in water distribution in the region after the fall of the USSR. This is a massive environmental wasteland.