Lake Tuz - Once Turkey's 2nd-Largest After Van - Down 85% In 90 Years Thanks To Irrigation, Climate

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Lake Tuz, located in central Anatolia and known as the second-largest lake of Turkey, can no longer carry that title as it has shrunk by 85 percent over the last 90 years due to global warming, drought and the over usage of its water for irrigation purposes.

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Ekercin said he even received support from NASA during the course of his study, adding that after examining satellite maps of Turkey provided by the US, Japan and France, he found there was a serious shrinkage of Turkey's lakes.

Ekercin said Lake Tuz covered 216,400 hectares in 1915. "Lake Tuz has shrunk at an alarming rate from then on. The water surface area of Lake Tuz decreased to 92,600 hectares in 1987," Ekercin said. "I clearly detected from the satellite images that the area of Lake Tuz decreased to 32,600 hectares in 2005. Drought, the over usage of water in the lake basin for irrigation and global warming have led to the loss of water in the lake. Some say the area Lake Tuz covers enlarges in the winter, but this is not true because the shores of the lake become marshy ground in the winter. The area the water covers no longer changes. Mud can be found on the shores of the lake in the winter, not water."

Ekercin said the area covered by Lake Tuz dropped to 30,000 hectares. "The area that Beyşehir Lake, the third-largest lake in Turkey, covers decreased from 65,000 hectares to 50,000 hectares. According to this, considering the area the water covers, Beyşehir Lake is significantly larger than Lake Tuz. You can clearly see this by examining the satellite images, which were taken after 2000. Beyşehir Lake has become Turkey's second-largest lake." Ekercin said there is a need for urgent and radical measures to protect Lake Tuz. "If the necessary measures are not taken, by 2015 Lake Tuz will no longer exist."

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