Disappearing Sea: Left: Aral Sea, 1998 Right: Aral Sea, 2002. In the 1960s, huge projects diverted water from the world’s fourth largest inland body of water to irrigate cotton and rice fields. Within 20 years the flow of water into the Aral completely stopped. The rapid disappearance of the sea in the former Soviet Union may be the most significant regional environmental disaster the world is facing but no plans exist for solving it. By 2020 it is likely to be only 10% of its original size

Photograph: R&D Center ScanEx and Jacques Descloites,MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC