Gulf of Gorgan Dying in Silence

The once gorgeous Gulf of Gorgan, one of the Caspian Sea's vastest bays, is likely to vanish in at most eight years if no efficient remedial measure is adopted, a member of the Caspian Sea National Research Center said.
Covering an area of about 400 square kilometers in the southeast of the Caspian Sea on Golestan and Mazandaran provinces, the once-thriving gulf, the largest bay in the region, is now on the brink of desiccation, and the scant remaining water in the body is polluted.
According to Homayoun Khoshravan, who also heads the environment research team at the Science Ministry, the gulf has so far lost about half of its area and will completely die out and turn into a source of dust storm if no action is taken, IRNA reported.  
"Unlike the 1995-2006 period when the gulf had an acceptable water inflow from the sea, the incoming water has decreased significantly as the link between the bodies has been almost cut thanks to the sea's water recession," Khoshravan said. 
With an annual decrease of 3 to 4 centimeters in the water level of the Caspian Sea, which is equal to 12 billion cubic meters, it is quite normal that the sea can no longer feed the gulf.