Lecture Theme: Introduction to the course. Plan

Land and Soil Pollution.

The reduction of water in Uzbekistan has resulted in soil degradation, and the spread of the salt from the evaporated Aral Sea has contaminated the surrounding soil. The soil has lost much of its water due to the increased surface irrigation. The irrigation of farmlands with water from the Aral Sea has resulted in increased salinization of the soil, causing the farmland to be less productive and the destruction of a large portion of farmable land.

The amount of grasslands in Uzbekistan has gradually decreased mainly due to over-grazing and climate change. About 62.6% of the land in Uzbekistan is used for agriculture with 51.7% of that land used for permanent pasture.

The soil has been polluted by mining and smelting activities due to the spread of metals and other pollutants by wind. Smelter ash contaminated soil causes environmental risks such as reduction of soil respiration, contamination of microbial biomass, and negatively effecting trophic interactions. Many species of animals are sensitive to metal pollution and are directly exposed to it by living off of the land that has been polluted by the mining and smelting activities. The metals polluting the land and soil include copper, gold, lead, silver, metallic zinc, and others. An example is the metallurgical complex at Almalik in Uzbekistan that manufactures metals and has waste storage sites in surrounding areas, which pollute the soil, groundwater, and air with high amounts of copper, zinc, arsenic, lead, and cadmium. The mining complexes in Uzbekistan have created toxic waste that has spread through the land, groundwater, air, waterways, and soil.

The soil in Uzbekistan is also polluted by industrial waste. The improper handling and disposal of industrial waste has polluted the land in Uzbekistan and other countries in Central Asia. The evaporation of the Aral Sea exposed Vozrozhdeniya Island, also known as Resurrection Island, to the land and environment in Uzbekistan when the island transformed into a large peninsula. At Resurrection Island, the land and soil was polluted with weaponized and genetically modified pathogens due to a secret biological weapons program carried out by the Soviet military. The island was decontaminated by the Russian military, Government of Uzbekistan, and U.S. experts because of the health and environmental dangers it could have caused with its new connection to the land.