The Aral Sea Encyclopedia - E pptx

E Eastern (Aral) Sea – the remaining part of A.S. located to the east of the merged chain of the Vozrozhdenia (see), Lazareva (see) and Komsomolsky (see) Islands is referred to in this way in scientific literature. Ecological-geographical database of the Aral Sea basin – developed by the Laboratory of Land Ecosystem Dynamics of the RAS Institute of Water Problems for monitoring of the natural ecosystems in the A.S. basin. The database was prepared using the results of expedition research and also data of stationary and semistationary observations received for the period 1978–1997. The data from the published works of foundations and archives for 1947–1994 were also included into this database as literary sources. The relevant hydrometeorological information received by hydraulic and meteor- ological stations located in the Amudarya and Syrdarya basin was also used. All data were subject to preliminary analysis and processing and were converted into a standard form for input, storage, and further utilization for addressing a wide spectrum of environmental issues. The database includes several thematic sections reflecting the condition of the ecosystem’s basic components – soils, vegetation, clim ate, surface, and groundwaters. All sections are interrelated and provided with a reference- information system. The geographical database is based on the scheme of landscape-typological zoning with a multilevel hierarchical system of units. This scheme was used for identification of the Amudarya and Syrdarya basin and the drainless areas in the Karakums and Kyzylkums in the territory of the A.S. watershed. Each river basin is divided into functional parts: watershed, floodplain, mountain, plain, and delta. Ecological map of the circum-Aral area – published in 1991 in Almaty. Ecological refugees – people whose lives were at risk or whose quality of life was seriously affected and were forced to leave their residences due to envir- onmental disturbances. Three categories of E.R. are distinguished: first, peo- ple who leave their residences temporarily due to environmental stress (natural events); second, people who leave their residences for good and resettle to new places (the result of construction of large reservoirs, etc.); I.S. Zonn et al., The Aral Sea Encyclopedia, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5_6, Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 91 and third, people or groups of people that migrate from their residences, either permanently or from time to time, to a new area within a country or abroad in search of better living conditions (in ecological terms). Due to the Aral’s drying out, a part of the Karakalpak population became Ecological Refugees. Ecological research and monitoring of the Aral Sea deltas – interdisciplinary project of UNESCO initiated in 1994 with the financial support of the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, Germany. The project united 130 scientists and specialists on the Aral region. Ekzek Bay* – juts for 6.5 km into the western shore of the Small Aral Sea (see) 20 km to the south-west of the Tarangly Cape. The bay is shallow. The fishery area Shemyshkol (now closed) was found on the southern shore of the bay. Encyclopedia of the Aral Sea – book by I.S. Zonn and M. Glantz (edited by A.N. Kosarev and A.G. Kostianoy) and published in the Russian edition in 2008. Encyclopedia of Islam – the work of V. Bartold (see) published in German in the early 2 0th century. It includes 111 h istorica l-geo graphi cal entries desc ribing a vast territory from the Crimea and Povolzhie to Mongolia. Among them are articles on the ‘‘Aral Sea’’ and ‘‘ Amu Darya.’’ This work was translated into Russian and presented i n t he book, ‘‘Works o n Historical Geography,’’ by V.V. Bartold, and published in ‘‘Oriental Literature’’ by the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow in 2002. Environmental crisis – the global change of the environment leading to dis- turbances of the natural conditions for the existence of modern forms of life on the Earth and the established dynamic equilibrium in the biosphere in general. The report of the UN Environmental Program of 1992, referring to the Aral Sea crisis, states, ‘‘we can hardly find any other region on our planet, except may be C hernobyl, where a more severe environmental crisis affected such a large territory and interfered with the life of such a large number of people.’’ Erzhan Island* – located to the west of the Djalpakkair strait (see) along the southeastern coast of A.S. in the center of the Zhiltyrbas Bay (see) and to the southeast of the Uzynkair Cape. The island is low and sandy. Due to sea water level fluctuations the coastline is subject to sharp changes. Executive Committee of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) – established in 1997 as the permanent executive and managing body of IFAS in Tashkent having branches in all states of Central Asia. The Executive Committee is a legal entity with the status of an international organization. The IFAS Executive Committee has its own running and settlement accounts in national and foreign currencies for supporting its activities and collects contributions from founding states, international 92 E Ecological research and monitoring of the Aral Sea deltas organizations, donor countries, grants, charities, as well as other donations from legal entities and private persons for the implementation of programs and projects and the distribution of urgent aid to the population i n the A.S. basin. Executive Committee of the International Fund E 93 . refugees – people whose lives were at risk or whose quality of life was seriously affected and were forced to leave their residences due to envir- onmental disturbances. Three categories of E. R the western shore of the Small Aral Sea (see) 20 km to the south-west of the Tarangly Cape. The bay is shallow. The fishery area Shemyshkol (now closed) was found on the southern shore of the. are distinguished: first, peo- ple who leave their residences temporarily due to environmental stress (natural events); second, people who leave their residences for good and resettle to new