Kazakhstan has serious environmental issues such as radiation from nuclear testing sites, the shrinking of the Aral sea, and desertification of former agricultural. Air pollution in Kazakhstan is another significant environmental problem. Acid rain damages the environment within the country and also affects neighboring countries. Pollution of the Caspian Sea is also a problem. Kazakhstan's wildlife is in danger of extinction due to the overall level of pollution.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN KAZAKHSTAN The Soviets regarded Kazakhstan as a convenient place to test nuclear and biological weapons and locate polluting industries. Radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges scattered throughout the country pose health risks for humans and animals.

Industrial pollution is severe in some cities. Kumkumapoovu serial cast. Pollution in the Caspian Sea is also a problem.

Soil pollution from overuse of agricultural chemicals and salination from poor infrastructure and wasteful irrigation practices. [Source: CIA World Factbook =] Most of Kazakhstan’s water supply has been polluted by industrial and agricultural runoff and, in some places, radioactivity. Desertification has eliminated substantial tracts of agricultural land. Plants in industrial centers lack controls on effluents into the air and water. The Semey region in the northeast has long-term radiation contamination from Soviet-era weapons testing. The Ministry of Environmental Protection is underfunded and given low priority.

Some new environmental regulation of the oil industry began in 2003, but expanding oil operations on Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast add to that sea’s already grave pollution. International programs to save the Aral and Caspian seas have not received meaningful cooperation from Kazakhstan or other member nations. [Source: Library of Congress, December, 2006 **] The Aral Sea, which is shared with Uzbekistan, has shrunk to three separate bodies of water.

Because the two main rivers that flowed into the Aral Sea have been diverted for irrigation, it is drying up and leaving behind a harmful layer of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then picked up by the wind and blown into noxious dust storms; A Soviet-era biological weapons site is a threat because it is located on a former island in the Aral Sea that is now connected with the mainland. The reduction in the Aral Sea’s water surface has exacerbated regional climatic extremes, and agricultural soil has been damaged by salt deposits and eroded by wind.