Environmental issues in Turkmenistan are most visible in three significant areas:

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

, the drying of the

Aral Sea The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...

, and chemical pollution. All three of these areas are directly linked to

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

practices in the country. Only the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

has a higher rate of desertification than that of Central Asian deserts. Of these, the

Karakum Desert The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum ( tk, Garagum, ; rus, Караку́мы, Karakumy, kərɐˈkumɨ), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name in Turkic languages means "black sand": "" means sand; "" is a contraction of : "d ...

and Kyzyl Kum Desert in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

grow by hundreds of thousands of acres annually. These conditions persist due to inefficient agricultural

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

and cattle grazing practices, which have led to the salinization of soil and the removal of ground cover plants respectively. Inefficient irrigation techniques on the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...

also contribute to the continued drying of the

Daşoguz Province Daşoguz (also Dashoguz, Dasoguz; roughly "stone spring" in Turkmen), formerly known as Tashauz (until 1992; russian: Ташау́з) and Dashkhovuz (1992–1999; russian: Дашхову́з), is a city in northern Turkmenistan and the capital o ...

experiences the most problems due to this drying. Drinking water quality has plummeted, bacteria levels in water have risen, and rates of infant mortality, hepatitis, and illness have risen. Competition with neighbouring countries is also contributing to depleting water resources. Afghanistan is building a canal to divert water from the Amu Darya away from Turkmenistan. Excessive use of fertilizer on

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and other crops, as well as the use of pesticides such as

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

causes a large chemical pollution problem. Many fertilizers and pesticides have entered groundwater supplies via leaching or runoff from farms due to excessive or improper use. Over 4 million tonnes of

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...

, a

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...

which causes

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, was vented or leaked in 2022. This has a greenhouse effect equivalent to 366 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which was more than the UK’s annual emissions. The country is cooperating with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, its member states and the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) to reduce and manage the impact of these environmental problems. However as of 2023 it has not joined the Global Methane Pledge or the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership.

References

External links

Turkmenistan Country Study
Issues

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