Drying of the Aral Sea reshapes the anthropogenic carbon inventory of Central Asia
Lakes store large quantities of carbon in their sediments, contributing to climate regulation. Yet the fate of this carbon after lake desiccation remains unclear. Using a space-for-time substitution approach, combining sediment cores, carbon dioxide flux measurements, and remote sensing, we quantified organic carbon losses from the world's largest desiccated lake, the Aral Sea. Since 1960, exposed lake bed sediments have released 204 ± 53 teragrams of carbon (Tg C), with vegetation growth offsetting less than 1%. Incorporating these emissions alters the regional carbon budget, transforming the Aral Sea basin from a presumed land-use-change carbon sink into a net source. Reflooding the sea could prevent an additional 165 ± 13 Tg C release, reframing restoration not only as an ecological and humanitarian imperative but also as a climate mitigation opportunity.
Authors
- Valentí Rodellas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5896-9987)
- B. Wissel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6312-149X)
- Joan Pere Casas‐Ruiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4708-9332)
- Enrique Moreno‐Ostos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9471-3922)
- Georgiy Kirillin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7337-3586)
- Daniel Diaz‐de‐Quijano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2231-5957)
- Núria Catalán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2433-4190)
- Rafael Marcé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7416-4652)
- Sofía Rodríguez-Gómez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7434-3298)
- Santiago Giralt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8570-7838)
- Carolina Olid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3857-3210)
- Jordi Ibáñez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8909-6541)
- Daniel Mercado‐Bettín (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4572-3029)
- Makhambet Mukhtar
- Zoraida Quiñones-Rivera
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ES)
- Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (SI)
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (ES)
- Geociencias Barcelona (ES)
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE)
- Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (ES)
- Associazione Regionale Allevatori della Lombardia (IT)
- National Research Council (LK)
- Siberian Federal University (RU)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- Universidad de Málaga (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-07-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aeb2344
- Primary Topic
- Transboundary Water Resource Management
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- Govern de les Illes Balears
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación