What are reasons for lowering the Caspian Sea level?

Baku/04.01.22/Turan: Recently, in some parts of the Baku boulevard there has been a retreat of the sea line.  There have even appeared small islands in the Baku Bay. What caused this?

According to the official data, the Caspian Sea lowest level over the last 500 years was recorded in 1977 - 29 meters below the level of the world ocean.  Since 1978, the water level began rising on average by 15 cm per year.  However, since 2006 a steady decline in the Caspian Sea level has been observed again.

In 2020, the average annual sea level made up 27, 9 meters below the level of the world ocean.

The Ministry of Ecology told Turan that in 2021 the Caspian Sea level dropped by 35 centimeters. "As compared to 2005, the Caspian Sea level reduced by 119 centimeters. The sharpest decline was recorded the last year", the ME said.

According to experts, the lowering of the Caspian Sea level will continue to be considerable by the end of the century.  This will seriously affect the ecosystem of the Sea, the environment and the economic life of the Caspian littoral states.

As viewed by German and Dutch scientists, by the end of the century the Caspian Sea level may drop by 9 to 8 meters as compared to today.

Ecologist Rovshan Abdullayev believes that the drop in the Caspian Sea level is caused by a decrease in the volume of water in the rivers flowing into the sea. In particular, in the Volga and Kura.  Another reason is the increased evaporation of water.

Some experts believe that the lowering of the Caspian Sea level is a tectonic problem, so the water level will rise again.

In the meantime, the coastline continues to retreat. This can result in vessels being unable to reach berths, fish spawning areas drying up, and vast salt marshes appearing.

As the Caspian Sea recedes, oil-contaminated areas will emerge. Their evaporation will lead to air pollution as well. The Caspian is no longer predicted to be as large as it once was.-21C06-