Aral Sea Dried Bed Has Released 748 Million Tons of CO2, Study Finds | carboncredit.io

A new study in Science reveals that the dried bed of the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake, has released 748 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere since 1960. That is roughly three times Spain's annual emissions. The research shows that when lake beds dry out, stored carbon escapes, turning a former carbon sink into a source. Wind erosion of dry sediment accounts for nearly a fifth of those emissions, a factor that had not been well measured before. The study also estimates that another 605 million metric tons of CO2 could still be released from the remaining dry lakebed. The authors suggest this creates an opportunity: keeping that carbon locked in the ground could be worth around $18 billion in carbon credits. While restoring the Aral Sea is complex due to irrigation demands and jurisdictional issues, linking the problem to carbon finance might create new incentives for action. This research adds to growing evidence that drying lakes worldwide, including the Great Salt Lake and Lake Chad, are a significant and undercounted source of greenhouse gas emissions. For carbon market participants, it highlights a potential new category of avoided emissions projects tied to watershed restoration.