The Caspian Sea has been shrinking for decades, negatively impacting Kazakhstan's economy, according to The Astana Times.
What is causing the Caspian Sea to shrink?
The Times reported that the eastern Caspian Sea reached record lows in 2025, dropping to minus 29.3 meters (minus 96 feet) below sea level. Environmental experts said that human activity, combined with the sea's location, is to blame.
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources said that the region's distance from oceans leaves it vulnerable to changing global temperatures. While global temperatures have risen by about 0.19 degrees Celsius (0.34 degrees Fahrenheit), they've risen three times the global average in the Caspian region, the Times reported.
In fact, a recent study estimated that over 27 million acres of the Caspian would dry up even if the planet's warming were successfully slowed. As a landlocked body of water, the sea has also experienced more evaporation than precipitation.
Laura Malikova, chair of the Association of Practicing Environmentalists, told the Kazinform news agency that dredging operations also contributed significantly to the shallowing.
"Photos and videos clearly show how far the water has retreated. The northern Caspian is becoming shallow at an extremely rapid pace," she said, per the Times.
Why is the Caspian Sea's shrinkage important?
The Caspian region's economy depends heavily on its sea. The fishing economy in coastal cities like Zhanbay, for example, has almost completely collapsed as the ecosystem is destroyed by the shallowing. Residents have had to migrate.
"If fishing still existed here, I would have stayed, but you have to find a way to survive, especially in winter," a man named Nurbol, who left his hometown of Zhanbay, told the Equal Times.
This issue is an international one. Russia recently banned fishing in the Caspian Sea to protect declining fish populations. According to the Times, five Caspian countries are also developing a 2025-2035 action plan to address the shallowing.
Malikova stressed the need to comply with environmental regulations to protect the sea, telling Kazinform, per the Times: "It is crucial to conduct economic activity, from oil production to other sectors, in strict compliance with environmental and technological standards."
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