Overview
- NASA imagery shows the lake dried up by late summer 2025, with only small puddles visible afterward in parts of the basin.
- Once Asia’s largest salt lake and a UNESCO-recognized habitat, the site no longer supports the migratory bird populations that once bred there.
- Scientists and local reporting describe salt-laden dust storms that contaminate soils and, according to a Nature-cited study, contribute to thousands of respiratory illnesses.
- Reporting attributes the decline chiefly to human actions, including widespread illegal groundwater extraction that exceeds natural recharge and the damming of feeder rivers for power and irrigation.
- Field accounts note steep local fallout, with depopulated villages, shifts from orchards to salt-tolerant pistachios, and officials acknowledging a broader national water crisis.