Geoecological problems of Uzbekistan

A geoecological problem is a process, natural or human-caused, that harms people's health and the economy and breaks the integrity of a geosystem. Causes may be natural (earthquake, mudflow, flood, landslide, strong wind, fire) or anthropogenic. By area three types are distinguished. Planetary problems concern the whole Earth: climate warming, thinning of the ozone layer, rising sea level, desertification. Regional problems cover several states or a large area; they are simple (one kind of process) or complex (several processes together). The Aral Sea and Aral region problem is a complex regional one: so much water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya has been taken for irrigation that the Aral Sea has shrunk sharply since the 1960s, the Aralkum desert has appeared in its place, with salt-and-dust storms, climate change and harm to health. All states of the basin must cooperate to deal with it; meanwhile plants such as saxaul are being planted on the dried seabed. Local problems are those of a small area: air pollution in a city, accumulation of drainage water, soil erosion and salinisation, degraded pastures, waste and toxic chemicals. Three principles are used in studying problems: territorial, geosystem and ecological. Natural balance cannot be returned exactly to its original state, only brought closer to it; solutions often need several measures used together.