A case in point is the Aral Sea in central Asia - the most polluted area of water on Earth. Once known as the Blue Sea, it was the world's fourth largest freshwater lake. But in just 30 years, it has shrunk to less than half its size and has become as salty as any ocean.
As the water retracted and evaporated, it left in its wake 3.6 million ha of polluted soil that is swept up by fierce storms and dumped on the surrounding land. Food is now scarce, infant mortality is on the increase and life expectancy is declining - by as much as 20 years, according to some experts.
This ecological catastrophe has been caused by decades of mismanagement and neglect, such as the excessive diversion of water for irrigation schemes, the indiscriminate pollution of rivers that flow into the sea, and the abstraction of vast amounts of water for power generation.
The United Nations, World Bank, and European Union are working with concerned governments in an international effort to restore the Aral Sea's ecological balance, replenish natural resources, and deal with public health, water, pesticides, and other urgent matters before it really is too late.
Watch video of the dramatic evaporation of the Aral Sea from 1973 to 2001 (Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.
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