Earth's upper mantle is revealing the deepest effect of human activity

image via New Scientist

April 7, 2025, 4:00 PM

• •The Aral Sea in central Asia has shrunk by almost 90 per cent since the 1960s.
• •The mass loss has caused Earth’s upper mantle to rise up, lifting the emptied sea bed an average of 7 millimetres per year.
• •This is probably the deepest recorded example of human activity changing the solid inner Earth.

The Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s due to unsustainable irrigation and drought. This has caused the Earth's upper mantle to rise up, lifting the emptied sea bed an average of 7 millimetres per year. This is probably the deepest recorded example of human activity changing the solid inner Earth.

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