Vanishing lakes prove impact of man

A GENERATION ago it was a vast deep blue sea teeming with life. Now the Aral Sea is sick and green and a fraction of the size it once was.

What was once a living mass of water brimming with fish providing a living for the thriving fishing villages on its shores is now, 40 years later, a slimy dark green mess suffocated by pollution and vast swathes of salt mountains.

These images, from the latest edition of one of the world's most authoritative atlases, show the stark changes global warming and mankind have wrought on the face of the planet.

Across the world, map makers are having to redraw coastlines, reduce the size of seas and lakes and reclassify types of land to keep up with the rapid changes transforming our planet.
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