The planet’s largest lake is shrinking fast. Experts fear it may never recover
There’s a spot on the shoreline from where Azamat Sarsenbayev used to jump into the brackish, blue-green Caspian Sea. Only a decade later, it now overlooks bare, stony ground stretching toward the horizon.

The water has receded far and fast from the coastal city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, where the eco-activist has lived his whole life. "It is very difficult to watch," he said.

More than 1,000 miles to the south, near the Iranian city of Rasht, Khashayar Javanmardi is alarmed. The sea here is choked by pollution.

"I cannot swim anymore … the water changed," said the photographer, who has traveled the Caspian’s southern shore, documenting its decline.

Both men feel intimately connected to the water they grew up alongside. Both are terrified for its future.
The Caspian Sea is the planet’s largest inland sea and its largest lake, сто мерседес an enormous body of water roughly the size of Montana. Its looping coastline stretches more than 4,000 miles and is shared by five countries: Kazakhstan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkmenistan.

These countries rely on it for fishing, farming, tourism and drinking water, as well as its coveted oil and gas reserves. The Caspian also helps regulate this arid region’s climate, providing rainfall and moisture to Central Asia.