English: Lake Balkhash is one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest lake in the world. Even though the lake is in a desert, it is fed by several rivers and serves as a habitat for 20 species of fish, 120 species of birds, and 60 species of indigenous plants. Like the Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash is shrinking as a result of the water from the rivers feeding it being diverted for agricultural and industrial purposes before being able to reach the lake. Climate change has also been linked to a reduction in precipitation in the area. Taken together, these two processes are putting the lake habitat at serious risk. At the end of October 2020, Science magazine relayed an appeal to local authorities to take action in preserving this precious ecosystem and avoiding the same environmental disaster that has already befallen the Aral Sea. This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellites on 20 September, shows the eastern part of Lake Balkhash. Every day the Copernicus Sentinel missions deliver petabytes of open data that are useful for monitoring the state of ecosystems around the world.