The ARAL Sea is a large lake located in Central Asia, between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It was once the fourth largest lake in the world, but due to the diversion of its feeder rivers for irrigation, it has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s. As a result, the ARAL Sea has become one of the most visible environmental disasters in the world, with its water levels dropping by more than 80% since the 1960s.