JJE

Desertification of the Sahel

WHAT IS DESERTIFICATION?

Desertification is degradation of dryland areas as a result of climatic variations or human activities such as water scarcity and intense use of services. It is related to the loss of productivity of drylands, economically and biologically. Desertification occurs in all continents except Antarctica. Regions that are prone to constant droughts are in even more danger. Major food and health crisis may happen as a result. However, the pressure is ever so high for drylands to provide food, habitats, fuels, and other materials for people, animals, and irrigation. 10 to 20% of drylands are already desertified, and if desertification does not stop, it will threaten humans and other species by decrease of land production.



 WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SAHEL?

As stated above, desertification occurs as a result of climatic variations or human activities. Desertification in Sahel is not an exception.



A climatic change that possibly causes desertification in Sahel is irregular rainfall. As could be seen in the chart above, in the late 1960s, severe drought follows above-average rainfall of 1950s-1960s. When sea-surface temperature lowers in the Gulf of Guinea, it weakens the African monsoon circulation. This causes drought, and it gets even worse because as there are less vegetation and less evaporation, sunlight reflects off the ground more easily, making the whole area drier. This cycle continues to desertify Sahel.



Some human activities that cause desertification in Sahel are population increase, deforestation, and lack of support. The growth rate of population is 3% per year in Sahel area, whereas that of food production is only 2% per year. As the need for food increases more and more, overgrazing happens, leading to soil erosion that degrades land. Burning down trees to create more farming land has led to soil erosion as well. However, there is no way to fund these farmers because the countries in Sahel area such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Nigeria are the poorest countries in the world. Without any government policy or funding to help them, there is no way to stop further degradation of Sahel.

 WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?

One possible solution for preventing further desertification of Sahel is to grow edible perennials. Not only do they last long, but they also stabilize the soil against wind and winter erosion and improve fertility. Another solution is government funding. When the government puts effort into preventing desertification in Sahel, more trees could be planted and farmers could be funded directly. As more money goes to researching, it could provide many more alternatives for the farmers other than deforestation that could improve fertility and yet not cause desertification.

Oil pollution in the Nigerian Delta

 Oil pollution, or oil spill is a release of liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the nature, causing damages to the environment. Oil spills happen all around the world, including South Korea. Few years back, Taean, Korea had faced problems due to a large oil spill. The Nigerian Delta is called the global capital of oil pollution. It estimated that over 13 billion barrels of oil has been spilled in the delta.

 The oil pollution in Nigerian Delta is largely caused by corrosion, sabotage and oil production operations. However, Nigerian government is failing to have the oil companies take responsibility of their cause: oil pollution. The blow-up of Shell's Bomo on 12 May 2009 and oil spill from a derelict oil tap have been continuously contaminating the place for years.



 Nigerian Delta is one of the world’s ten most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems. Not only this, it is where about 31 million people dwell upon. Because of this pollution, these people wash, drink and cook with these contaminated water. Also, their food sources from the sea, the fishes die and contaminated with these toxins. Eating these will cause serious damage to people’s health. Not only do the fishes die, the toxin affects their reproductive abilities, creating food shortage. The oil pollution destroys habitats and causes the loss of biodiversity. It was also reported that the pollution causes respiratory problems, coughing up blood, skin rashes, tumors, different forms of cancer and so on. Gas flares, pipeline leaks and acid rain are also caused due to this.





Possible solutions are that the government of Nigeria takes a firm control of this and stop this. The government of Nigeria distributes wealth poorly. However, despite their numerous acts and regulations have restricted the oil pollution, it still is a problem until this day. We must raise awareness of the impact the pollution has on the environment and to the people. More fund must be raised for environmental research and protection. Construction of regional spill response centers along the coastline might be a good solution and industries that deal with petroleum should be close to government agencies to reduce the spills. The immediate clean ups and help would improve the environment as well.

The Aswan Dam <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">In 1970, the Aswan High Dam was built in order to generate hydroelectric power and to regulate the flow of the world's longest river, the Nile. The Aswan Dam is one of the largest embankment dams in the world. An embankment dam is composed of Earth and rocks that are able to resist the force of water pressure. With almost 95% of Egypt's population settled within 12 miles of the Nile River, the impact of the Aswan Dam has been evident.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;"> The dam was a huge success. It was able to generate 50% of Egypt's electricity and save lives and societies as it controlled the flooding of the Nile. In addition, because the dam keeps the Nile's water flow consistent, navigation along the river has improved. Tourism boomed as boats could now travel both upstream and downstream of the dam. Also, fishing in Lake Nasser flourished as a new fishing industry sprouted up around the artificial lake. Most importantly, the Aswan Dam is the source of more than 10 billion kilowatt-hours every year. Without this dam, Egypt would not have a stable source of energy.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;"> However, the Aswan Dam also comes with many negative effects. During the construction of the dam, 90,000 Nubians had to be relocated; many of the Egyptian peasants had to start their lives over from scratch and ancient artifacts were lost. Plus, due to evaporation and seepage of water, about 12-14% of the annual input into the reservoir has been lost. Loose sediments have also been filling the capacity of the reservoir and it is decreasing the amount of water it is able to store. The most unfavorable factor that the Aswan Dam has brought was the problem with fertilization. The dam has disrupted the Nile River's natural fertilization as it no longer flooded enough to deposit silt along the banks of the river. However, as the river does not flood properly, all the sediments and fertile soil have settled towards the bottom of the river or into Lake Nasser. The static flow of the river is not able to deliver the silt to the fields of Egypt, thus forcing farmers to depend on artificial fertilizers and irrigation channels. While irrigation channels do supply farmers with a proper water supply, poor drainage of the fields has led to increased salinity and deteriorated the quality of Egypt's farmland.



<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">If farmers are using artificial fertilizers on their crops, who will be affected? The rest of the world. Egypt is a big exporter of cotton and farm produce; products from Egypt are found all over the world. Be that as it may, Egyptian farmers also have to rely on artificial fertilizers in order to grow fine crops as the Nile can no longer scatter its rich sediments around the surrounding lands. Chemical fertilizers are not only harmful and major pollutants, they are also very expensive. Most crops exported from Egypt have been in contact with chemical fertilizers and may result in health problems.



<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;"> The Aswan Dam is also the cause of the increase of infectious diseases. Lake Nasser can ultimately be labeled as the supply of most of the dangerous aspects of Egypt. The water collected in this lake is very stagnant and exposed, making it the perfect birthplace for algae, snails, and mosquitoes. As the water of Lake Nasser slowly increases, a mass breeding of freshwater snails carrying parasites goes underway. These snails reproduce and spread the disease //Schistosomiasis// because the Nile can no longer wash the snail colonies away. Mosquitoes also aid in the department of infectious diseases as they can reproduce in the millions along the surface and edges of any stationary water source. Malaria is carried by the mosquitoes and as they migrate around the world, so does the disease.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;"> While the Aswan Dam is beneficial and helpful to Egypt, it is also affiliated with many drawbacks. Egypt should take action as soon as possible in order to lessen the impact the dam may have on the world. The use of chemical fertilizers should be decreased and Egypt should invest in organic fertilizers. Furthermore, regulation of the dam should be reconsidered as it limits the Nile's beneficence. The dam should allow the Nile to flood more regularly and also allow a steady water flow to Lake Nasser. Lake Nasser needs some sort of running water in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and plagues. Mosquitoes and snails cannot be handled directly and effectively without disrupting the environment, thus, problems concerning the Aswan Dam must be looked into before the consequences catch up with humanity. The sooner, the better.

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