A natural-color image of a dust storm over the Aral Sea, a once vast inland lake. Much of the dust appeared to be coming from a desert, which has emerged as the Aral Sea has dried in recent decades. In the 1960s the Soviet Union diverted rivers going into the immense lake for agriculture in nearby republics. Dry lake beds are abundant sources of atmospheric dust because they are filled with light, fine-grained sediment that winds can easily lift. March 24, 2020.