Hamoun Lake, on the border of Iran and Afghanistan, has gradually disappeared over the course of 30 years. Does the rate of its disappearance correspond to the rate at which conflicts in the region have escalated?
The study is based on NASA’s archive of images from Landsat satellites 1-8. Satellite images are collected every other year, from a similar time in the year; late spring.
For each image, the contours of the lake are carefully traced.
We produced a time-lapse video of these contours, revealing that the first ‘disappearance’ of Lake Hamoun occured in 2013. This year corresponds to the US occupation of Afghanistan and a bloody conflict over the control of Helmand River, one of the main sources of water for the Hamoun Lake. It is notable that according to a study by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013 saw a 49% national increase in the cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan, and more than 50% in the border region of Nimroz. Prior to the US occupation of the country, the practice of opium poppy cultivation was banned.
This study suggests a correlation between those three events: the arrival of conflict in Helmand province, the drought in Hamoun Lake, and the increase in poppy cultivation.