Scientists warn of Caspian Sea level decline

According to the calculations by German and Dutch researchers, the water level in the Caspian sea by 2100 will be 9-18 meters lower than it is now. It can cause several problems in the environment and economy, scientists say, Report states, citing RIA Novosti.

While many countries around the world are concerned about rising sea levels, more than a hundred million people living in the Caspian region face the opposite problem — the rapid decline in the level of the Caspian sea.

It gets smaller every year. Since the 1990s, its level has dropped by several centimeters annually.

German scientists from the universities of Giessen and Bremen, together with Dutch geologist Frank Wesselingh from the Department of Geosciences at Utrecht University, built a predictive model of changes in the level of the Caspian sea until the end of the XXI century.

According to their estimates, the decline will accelerate in the coming decades, and by 2100 the sea level will fall by 9-18 meters, and the area of the sea basin will be reduced by 23-34 percent.

The authors identify problems that may worsen due to a drop in the water level: this will affect the unique ecosystems with their migratory birds, Beluga whales, and the endemic Caspian seal, which raises its young on the ice in the North of the Caspian sea. Draining the shallowest northern part of the basin will lead to the extinction of the seal population.

Scientists call for creating an international task force on endangered lakes under the auspices of the UN Environment Programme, which would coordinate the solution to this problem.