One of the Caspian Sea’s most serious problems is its shallowing. The sea’s water level has been falling for many years. Unfortunately, the process has accelerated significantly in recent times, and the situation continues to worsen. The sea’s area has shrunk considerably, with its total surface area already reduced by more than 20,000 square kilometers.
“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports that President Ilham Aliyev made the remarks while addressing the Caspian Environmental Summit in Turkmenbashi.
The head of state stressed that the consequences could be disastrous if the current trend continues.
He said the problem of shallowing was not only an environmental issue: “The falling sea level directly affects the interests of our states and has an impact on people’s lives, the economy and transport in coastal areas. We can see the coastline retreating, the ecosystem changing, and problems arising in the operation of ports and other coastal infrastructure. As a result of the falling level of the Caspian Sea, nearly 30,000 hectares of land have emerged in the Azerbaijani part of the Caspian alone.”
