The disappearance of Central Asia's Aral Sea is seen as one of the worst environmental catastrophes in recent history. This paper, which draws from a book project on the disaster, Aral: Life and Death of a sea, focuses on the fate of the Aral Sea and its people in the Soviet Union's last years (1998-1991). It examines the far-reaching consequences of the sea's loss for local residents, as well as why Moscow failed to take any meaningful action to address the disaster.
