Two Centuries of Change: The Caspian Sea’s Retreat
Two hundred years ago, there was a port city on the Caspian Sea known as Guryev. Today, it sits 35 kilometers away from the shoreline, transformed from a maritime port into a river port. However, it’s not the city that has moved; rather, the sea has receded. The shores of the Northern Caspian are so shallow that even a one-centimeter drop in water level results in a noticeable retreat of the coastline. Since 1929, the level of this sea has decreased by three meters!
But what is draining the Caspian, exposing the lifeless yellow sands that have long rested on the seabed?
Over the past century, these regions have experienced a warming climate, leading to reduced precipitation over the Caspian and its surrounding areas, along with a decrease in river water inflow.
Receiving a total of 402 cubic kilometers of water, the Caspian Sea evaporates 414 cubic kilometers of water each year.