Off topic, but another interesting and tragic story is about the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. I actually don't know in what state it is now, but

Off topic, but another interesting and tragic story is about the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. I actually don't know in what state it is now, but it shows perils of modern agriculture and resulting environmental problems which hit the population severely. The issues often fly under the radar because it is said that people are used to environmental hardships, so a sea vanishing wasn't seen as something too catastrophic. I think there are efforts to restore the sea and that might be extremely important for the overall health of the population in the vicinity.