里海沿岸退缩警示新的环境威胁。 Caspian Sea Coastal Retreat Alarms About New Environmental Threats.
里海是世界上最大的内陆水域，由伊朗、俄罗斯、阿塞拜疆、哈萨克斯坦和土库曼斯坦共同拥有，目前，里海正面临水位下降的威胁，到本世纪末，里海水位可能下降9至18米，面积将减少四分之一，9.3万平方公里的陆地将暴露出来。 The Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water shared by Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, is facing decreasing water levels, possibly dropping by 9-18 meters by the end of the century, losing a quarter of its area and exposing 93,000 sq km of dry land. 这种下降与俄罗斯在里海主要水源伏尔加河上修建水坝有关，这大大减少了流入大海的水量。 This decline is linked to Russia's construction of dams on the Volga River, the Caspian's main water source, significantly reducing water flow into the sea.