摘要
Some areas of the northern hemisphereare experiencing very hot and dry weatherthis summer.Drought could affect veryquickly enclosed and sensitive environmentsof Eurasia.The Caspian Sea,being a closedbasin since the beginning of the Quaternary,has experienced important water fluctuationsover its lifetime.Some of the historical sea-level oscillations have been mentioned inliterature and occasionally preserved incoastal sediments.Caspian Sea level fluctua-tions with an amplitude of 3 m have beenrecorded since the end of 19^(th) century coinci-ding with instrumental measurement of theCaspian Sea level.The last sea-level risebegan in 1979,stabilizing in a highstandperiod since 1995,in spite of minor oscilla-tions.The main driver of sea-levels seems tobe summer precipitation over the Volga drain-age basin.Moreover,the La Niña phase ofENSO also correlates with drought over theVolga basin,which is the case this summer.In addition to natural processes,direct humanimpacts including massive dam constructionacross the Volga River after WWII,has influ-enced the Caspian Sea level to some degree.
