Human-environment+Interaction+in+Africa-+Austin,+Jenny,+Junghyun

By: Austin Yoo, Jenny Lee, Junghyun Kim

 Desertification of Sahel


Desertification is when fertile land becomes a desert or infertile. Desertification is a serious problem not only in the Sahel area, but also in China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and many other countries throughout the world. The land type that is most vulnerable to desertification is dry lands, which makes the problem bigger. 40% of the land on earth is considered as dry lands and 10-20% of those areas have already been degraded.

What causes this to happen?? Many factors contribute to desertification. The first one is growing only one source of crop. There are numerous amounts of nutrients in the soil that different plants use in different amounts. If one keeps on planting the same crop over and over again, the soil will run out of that nutrient and become degraded. Another factor is the environment of the land. When the land and atmosphere is dry then droughts will be frequent. Droughts are a primary cause of desertification. A third factor be wrong irrigation. When irrigation is done in a wrong way, excessive minerals and salts can get in to the soil which will hurt the plants and crops. If that happens for a long time, then the land will become infertile.

Why is this so serious?? Desertification has many devastating effects. First, the land that has been degraded could be a harm to the people and environment. Desertification in China causes yellow dust in the spring season. Another effect would be that people in the region would enter the poverty cycle. Because most of the areas with dry lands are developing countries, not many people are educated or have good jobs. Most of them farm or fish to acquire their food. If desertification turns a piece of land infertile, the farmer who worked there would have no food and eventually starve and become poor. A third effect would be that the land will be more vulnerable to natural disasters. Desertification gets rid of all the trees which makes the land highly vulnerable to floods and wind storms that could carry the top soil away. The chart below shows some more effects of desertification:

How do we solve this??  The good news is that there are many different solutions. One is afforestation, which is planting more trees to help decrease the damages when a natural disaster occurs. Another solution would be using proper farming practices. Such would include, using fresh water, proper crop rotation and many more. A third solution would be to protect lands from being overgrazed. Sources: (Text) - Danny. Possible Solutions to Desertification. Scalloway. web. 27 April 2011. < http://www.scalloway.org.uk/phye5.htm> - Desertification. Wikipedia. 27 April 2011. web. 27 April 2011.  - Scientific Facts on Desertification. Green Facts. 03 May 2011. web. 27 April 2011. 

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">(Photos) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">- Annan, Kofi. World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. Mindfully. 17 June 2003. web. 27 April 2011. <http://www.mindfully.org/Heritage/2003/Desertification-Poverty-Annan12jun03.htm> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">- Global Environmental Problems. hqweb. web. 27 April 2011. <http://hqweb.unep.org/ceh/ch04.html> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"> - World to fail in greenhouse gas cuts. saving water. 08 June 2010. web. 27 April 2011. <http://www.savingwater.co.za/tag/droughts/>

=<span style="color: #e91818; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">** Niger Delta Oil Spills ** =

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">**What is the problem?**

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Nigeria is one of the largest exporter of crude oil to the world and the United States. Yet, there have been continuous oil leakages and spills since the 1970s, averaging to about 300 per year.In total it is estimated to have over 13 billion barrels of oil spilled. Oil spills not only the loss of money for the crude oil that could be sold, but also a critical factor to contaminationof sea water in the Niger delta, destroying the lives of fishers and farmers, because the fishes and water that is needed to be used for farming is contaminated and impossible to use.



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">** What is/are the cause(s) of the problem? **

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">The cause of this problem is seen to be the aging pipes that lead to the leakage along with the brutal sabotage of the rebellious groups and hungry thieves. When the blame was put on the multinational corporations for the spills happening from rotten rigs and pipelines, they defended their position by saying it is the violent actions of rebels trying to steal the oil and sell it for their own profits.



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">** What are the effects? **

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">As mentioned as the part of the problem, excessive environmental contamination has been caused because of oil spills in the Niger delta along with job losses of farmers and fishers, who are mainly the peasants. These peasants are now selling the contaminated oil that has been spilled in the black market to make profit. Even though they know their doings are wrong, it is clear that they make more money by doing so than to do other jobs. Another effects of the problem is the global attention this urgent matter is receiving. Even though it is evident that there are large economic losses happening with pollution that would eventually put the world into danger, the international community is not making any immediate actions to stop this problem Even though more are aware of this problem, no actions are being taken.



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">**Possible solutions?**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> To my opinion, the most urgent matter is to investigate the real cause of the problem. If the continuing leakage is due to lack of attention of the companies to their facilities, then the international media and organizations must demand them to make a change because this will soon affect the entire world. If the problem is caused by the sabotage of the rebels, then the government must provide a solution to the constant military attacks. It is a part of the government's responsibility to protect their nation's companies and citizens from any violence, thus such measure should be taken. If this change is impossible due to the political instability of Nigeria, the international community as a whole should raise awareness to such problem to provide any realistic solutions.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"><Work cited> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;"> - Vidal, John. "Nigeria's Agony Dwarfs the Gulf Oil Spill. The US and Europe Ignore It | Environment | The Observer." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 01 May 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell>. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;"> - "Niger Delta Oil Spills Dwarf BP, Exxon Valdez Catastrophes | Newsdesk.org." Newsdesk.org | news You Might Have Missed. Web. 01 May 2011. <http://newsdesk.org/2010/06/niger-delta-oil-spills-dwarf-bp-exxon-valdez-catastrophes/>. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;">- "Gulf Spill Not World’s Worst - Thestar.com." //News, Toronto, GTA, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Canada, World, Breaking - Thestar.com//. Web. 01 May 2011. <http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/818219--gulf-spill-not-world-s-worst>. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;">- "Yale Environment 360." Yale Environment 360: Opinion, Analysis, Reporting & Debate. Web. 01 May 2011. <http://e360.yale.edu/content/images/0711-spill-volume.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 90%;"> - "Niger Delta Oil Spills Cause Investigations - Environment - WaterLink International." //Home - WaterLink International//. Web. 01 May 2011. <http://www.waterlink-international.com/news/id1334-Niger_Delta_Oil_Spills_Cause_Investigations.html>.

=<span style="color: #148eeb; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">The Aswan Dam =



<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> Aswan High Dam, known as the “Aswan Dam”, is located in Aswan, Egypt. The dam was built to capture the world’s longest river, the Nile. It essentially controls the water flow, generates hydroelectricity, stores water, and prevents flooding. Although dams are usually useful as stated above, they do create some problems.

<span style="color: #500050; display: block; font-family: '맑은 고딕'; font-size: 130%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">

<span class="s1" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: normal;">The Aswan Dam was built in 1970 for beneficial reasons, but it created some negative consequences. Many people had to leave their homes when the dam was undergoing construction. People also had to shift the temple of Abu Simel to another location to create Lake Nasser, which was created when the Aswan Dam was built.

<span class="s1" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: normal;">The dam has also disrupted the natural flooding cycle of the Nile which regularly deposited rich minerals and silt onto the Nile delta. Because the dam traps the silt and sediments within the river, the Nile Delta now lacks its natural fertilizer, resulting in erosion of the soil. Since the Nile no longer deposits silt, farmers now must import chemical fertilizers to grow their crops. Besides, chemical fertilizers cost huge amount of money and are harmful and polluting for they flow from the cropland to the water.

<span class="s1" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: normal;">The dam also has contributed to water problems. Because the dam traps the water, still water evaporates quicker than flowing water. Thus, Africa is experiencing water shortages, which this is evidently a problem. Also, more mosquitos are laying their eggs in the artificial Lake Nasser. These mosquitoes cause various diseases such as malaria, filaria and dengue. Africa currently is seeing an increasing number of people who are suffering from these diseases.

<span class="s1" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: normal;">The global issue for this problem is that the crops that are produced with the chemical fertilizers near the Aswan dam are harmful to our health. Crops containing bad chemicals are exported to other countries and sold to people all around the world. People may suffer from certain diseases or other health problems. Also, the mosquitoes from the dam can cause infectious diseases and spread out to other countries, which can be a threat to many human lives.

<The dam regulates the flooding cycle of the Nile River. It creates hydroelectricity and allows people to store and release water at any time.Water irrigation becomes easier.>

<span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Although Aswan dam has some negative problems, it also has benefited Egypt greatly. It creates hydroelectricity, saves the water, and prevents over-flooding. However, we must find solutions to combat the negative consequences that the dam may bring.

<span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Egypt itself should start work on enriching the soil around the river without the chemical fertilizers. Since this problem can affect the global community, action should be taken as quickly as possible. The dam should also be released in a more natural fashion so that some flooding still can occur around the Nile Delta, taking away the need for chemical fertilizers. In other words, the dam should regulate rather than block the flooding altogether, so that the soil around the river can be naturally enriched. Also, the dam should keep water flowing to Lake Nasser and not trap the water for too long, to prevent the spread of mosquitoes.

Citation:

"ASWAN DAM." //ASWAN DAM//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://www.aswandam.net/>.

"Environmental Impact of the Aswan High Dam." //:: MBarron.net :://. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://www.mbarron.net/Nile/envir_nf.html>.

Rosenberg, Matt. "Aswan Dam - Overview of the Aswan High Dam." //Geography Home Page - Geography at About.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/nile.htm>.

"The Aswan Dam." //Annie Bees Homepage//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://www.anniebees.com/Egypt/Aswan_2.htm>.

"The Aswan Dam project." //PropertyCommunity.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <www.propertycommunity.com/property-in-egypt/175-the-aswan-dam-project.html >.

"University of Michigan." //Human Impacts on the Nile River//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <sitemaker.umich.edu/sec004_gp5/the_aswan_dam_disadvantages http://>.