Catastrophe?
The
new edition of The Times Comprehensive
Atlas of the World shows in staggering detail the results of huge physical
and potentially cataclysmic changes which have affected the world’s environment.
It is estimated that
at least 90,000 square kilometres of precious habitat – an area larger than
Scotland – is are lost every year through the deforestation of the world’s
tropical forests and the destruction of wetlands. Since the publication of the previous edition of The Times
Atlas four years ago, this means that the world has lost forest and wetland
greater than the size of the entire British Isles. “It is a deeply depressing finding,” commented Chief Editor, Mick
Ashworth, “and the new edition of The Times Atlas highlights some of the
most worrying examples of environmental change.”
Three Gorges
Dam Project displaces over 1 million people
The
11th edition of The Times Atlas now shows the huge dam
and reservoir on the Yangtze river in China.
Entire communities have been relocated and over 100 towns and villages
have been inundated by the reservoir, ultimately submerging them completely and
erasing them from the map.
Across
the world new reservoirs and dams are causing uproar. In Argentina one of
the largest and most complex construction projects ever undertaken in Latin
America was recently completed – the Yacyreta dam project has destroyed both
islands and rapids in the river. In Brazil the controversial Represa do Rio
Manso reservoir has been finished – much to the protests of the local
people. And in Lesotho, the Katse dam – now the highest in Africa - and reservoir
have been completed.
The
coastline of Antarctica has had to be redrawn following last year’s
disintegration of the Larsen ice shelf. A section of this ice shelf – Larsen B
– which, at 200m thick and 3,250 sq km in area, was larger than Luxembourg,
has
broken away from the main ice shelf.
Global warming is thought to have been the catalyst for this momentous
and disturbing event.
The
Aral sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, originally the size of the Republic of
Ireland, was once the world’s fourth largest lake. Now it is only the tenth. Since the 1967 edition of The Times Atlas, it has shrunk by an
astonishing 39,994 sq km with devastating results for the local community’s
health and livelihood. The new 11th
edition of The Times Atlas shows an
extensive realignment of coastline and reclassification of land type to match
the latest satellite images and includes comparative images showing the
dramatic change.
Once
covering almost 20,000 sq km – an area the size of Israel – the dramatic
reduction in these important wetlands is depicted in the new edition of The Times Atlas. Competition between several countries for
the water of the Tigris and Euphrates, controversial dams that reduce water
flow and the schemes and drainage ordered by Saddam Hussein himself
are all contributing reasons. Satellite
images now show that only 7% of
these wetlands now remain intact.
An entire lake
– once the size of Devon and Cornwall - has disappeared.
Lop
Nur salt lake in China now no longer exists.
Located on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, it was nicknamed “The
Wandering Lake” because of the effect that changes in rainfall and evaporation
had on its position and size. Climate
change and water exploitation for irrigation schemes in recent years have
completely drained the lake and now the new edition of The Times Atlas classifies the area as a salt flat.
Dead Sea is
getting shallower
The
diversion of the River Jordan for drinking water and agriculture has caused dramatic
lake level lowering. The new edition of The
Times Atlas highlights a 16 metre
reduction in surface height since the 1975 edition of The Times Atlas, causing the lake to split in two and for the
southern section to dry out completely. Various grandiose plans have been
suggested to create canals or build tunnels to replenish the Dead Sea but as
yet none have been started.
Africa’s Lake Chad has shrunk by almost 95% over the last 4 decades due to
severe droughts and diversion of water away from the lake for irrigation. Once the fourth largest body of water in
Africa it has moved well down the world ranking of lakes by area and now covers
merely 1,350 sq km against 25,000 sq km in 1963.