Since the 1960s, the size of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan has greatly decreased (see satellite image from 2009, inset, with thin black line indicating original size). The decreased area is due largely to short-sighted irrigation projects that diverted the rivers that fed this body of water. The resulting environmental disaster left formerly prosperous fishing villages marooned many miles from any shoreline and brought pollution, hardship, and a more extreme climate to the area.