page_title: Aralkum Desert
section_title: Airborne contaminants
hierarchical_section_title: Aralkum Desert / Airborne contaminants
caption_attribution_description: English: The Aral Sea: The raised land to the left used to be the shore
context_page_description: The Aralkum Desert is a desert that has appeared since 1960 on the seabed once occupied by the Aral Sea. It lies to the south and east of what remains of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
context_section_description: The sands of the Aralkum and the dust that originates from it contain pollutants. The desert's location on a powerful east–west airstream has resulted in pesticides in the dust being found in the blood of penguins in Antarctica. Aral dust has also been found in the fields of Russia, the forests of Norway, and in the glaciers of Greenland.
caption: The bed of the former Aral Sea in Uzbekistan in 2004
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