Friday flashback

The International Aral Sea Crisis Conference, sponsored by SPEA and the Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies in July 1990, was the first of its kind in the world and addressed issues surrounding the volume loss of water in the Aral Sea equivalent to one-and-a-half times that of Lake Erie in less than 20 years. Among topics was the immediate human dimension affecting the Uzbek people (photo above). A fishing industry that once employed tens of thousands was already gone at the time of the conference and health problems, including a high incidence of both throat cancer and infant mortality, were on the rise. Irrigation and other agricultural initiatives catalyzed a series of interrelated environmental concerns that were evident as early as the 1960s. Simultaneous translating (below) was facilitated in the IMU Frangipani Room in Bloomington to accommodate international conferees.

Photo courtesy of IU Archives