Irrigation increase in the 1960s began affecting the Aral ecosystem. South of the Sea lies the Amudarya delta, a 28,000 sq km area used for the production of rice and cotton, the region’s most profitable cash crops. In the days of the Cold War, the Aral Sea basin was designated by the former Soviet Union as land that would provide independence from the West. Although the region did produce heartily for a time, the devastating effects of desertification were not anticipated by the central planners. Now the Sea has in places retreated more than 100 km from its original boundaries.
http://www.africanwater.org/aral.htm
It's also true that there exist social systems that are damaging Nature - by eliminating private ownership...
