Photos from the Inyl-check glacier in Kazakhstan in an altitude of 4.200 meters
Adaptation to climate change: Time to act
There is evidence that glaciers are shrinking in the high mountains of Central Asia. There is a lack of balance between environmental protection, hydropower generation and agricultural production. This can also be seen at the Aral Sea, which has been drying up for the last 50 years. While up-stream countries need the water mainly for hydropower in winter, the down-stream countries need the water for irrigation agriculture during the vegetation period. Up-stream (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan) and down-stream countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan) in the Aral Sea Basin do not share the same interests and have not been agreeing on a common approach to deal with the consequences of climate change. Let us keep in mind what the UN Secertary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “One single country in the region cannot solve the problems alone”. Adaptation to climate change is urgently needed and the international community must act and support the countries.
