Caspian Sea Unlikely to Disappear in the Foreseeable Future, Scientist Says

A Russian scientist says the Caspian Sea is unlikely to disappear in the foreseeable future, despite two decades of decline in its water level, Orda.kz reports.

A Russian scientist has said that after 20 years of decline, the level of the Caspian Sea has reached an equilibrium state, so it is unlikely to disappear in the foreseeable future.

This was stated in an interview with RIA Novosti by Mikhail Bolgov, chief researcher, head of the laboratory at the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Doctor of Technical Sciences.

In the coming years, we expect some stabilization, because the level has been falling for almost 20 years and has reached a certain equilibrium. Around this equilibrium state, it may fluctuate within a fairly wide forecast range, but it will not fall by 30 meters. In the foreseeable future, the Caspian Sea will remain.Bolgov said. 

The decline in the level of the Caspian Sea has been observed since the mid-1990s. In 2025, it reached a historic low, dropping below minus 29 meters.

In 2025, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly warned of the risks of an environmental disaster threatening the entire region.

The shallowing is noticeable in all countries bordering the Caspian Sea — Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Environmentalists warn that the rate of decline may accelerate in the next decade. If the situation does not change, the Caspian Sea could find itself on the brink of a large-scale environmental disaster.

Original author: Rimma Karatayeva

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