Today and tomorrow, The Franklin Institute is host to a meeting on climate and water resource issues with international implications, such as those involving the Aral Sea.

This sea is located in the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Just a few decades ago, the Aral was the fourth-largest inland body of water in the world. Today, it's sixth largest and still shrinking, partly due to human intervention - water is being diverted from a major river, the Amu Darya, that feeds the sea. Several former Soviet republics use water from this river, and now another country in that part of the world is organizing a new government and starting to consider where it will get its water, some of which will come from that same river. That country is Afghanistan.

Attendees at this meeting, entitled "Water, Climate and Development in the Amudarya Basin," are discussing the issues surrounding water usage in that part of Asia. Scholars and scientists from at least seven countries are participating.