Christina,+Chris's+Group

= Desertification of the Sahel =



General Description (Global)
Desertification is literally a process by which a land becomes like a desert. As desertification is a global process, especially prevalent in dry ares of Asia, sections of North and South America, center of Australia, and Africa, it is now one of the most pressing problems in the world, both environmentally and socially. Environmentally, desertification decreases not only the number of trees but also biodiversity, and even causes dust storms; socially, the inhabitants who used to live in drylands are suffering from the effects of desertification, such as reduction of crops.

There are various factors that cause desertification: deforestation, overgrazing, over-farming, and climate change. Climate changes may lead to extreme phenomenons such as droughts, but it is a common misconception that climate change holds the sole responsibility in desertification. It is only when these extreme events occur along with human activities that productive lands begin to turn into arid and infertile soils. Human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing and over-farming degrade top soils, cut down vegetation, hinder with water flow, and cause desiccation of soil.

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The Sahel is a region between the Sahara desert and the Sudanian Savannas. Desertification is also an alarming problem for the Sahel. It has experienced two major droughts in the past hundred years. One drought struck the Sahel in 1914, while one happened just last year, which is 2010. The region generally has low amount of precipitation, as the diagram above shows that rainfall in Sahel has decreased severely since the 1970s. Also, natural soil erosion is also frequent in the Sahel, which is mainly caused by wind sometimes accompanied by water.======

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With these natural causes said, human activities in the Sahel region have worsened the situation. When people first started to settle in the Sahel area, the population was concentrated around water. As a result, overgrazing, one of the biggest causes of desertification, occurred. As overgrazing continued, the region was only left with desolate land. Topsoil was swept away by water, and fine sediment became stiff, thus making it impossible for the plants to grow. The slash-and-burn method to clear land is also a primary reason for desertification in the Sahel. This removes the topsoil and degrades the features of the land just like overgrazing. ======

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A tropical rain forest around Lake Chad is slowly being destroyed due to desertification. Furthermore, desertification has been causing severe famine in the Sahel region. The diagram below illustrates the difference in the crop yield between 1953 and 1993. Although the size of the land has increased three times than its original size, the amount of crop has decreased 1/7. ======



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As mentioned in the section “General Description (Global),” human activities contribute a lot in desertification. In order to solve the problem of desertification, it is important to tackle the core causes of it. ======

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First, deforestation can be averted by aforestation. Aforestation means planting trees. Trees help prevent run-off of soil, and more trees mean more places for animals to live in, thus increasing biodiversity. Furthermore, aforestation will help in reducing droughts.Overgrazing can be combatted by enclosing a portion of young trees or plants and protecting them. Slash-and-burn method should be replaced with better farming practices that do not harm the environment. Some examples may be practices suggested in United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). According to GAP, hedging and ditching can reduce erosion, and proper usage of fertilizers can prevent run-off. ======


 * Citations (Both Work & Images Cited)**

" Possible Solutions to Desertification." //Standard Grade Geography//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. < [] >.

"Africa Environment Outlook." //-- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Home page --//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. < [] >.

"Causes and Effects of Desertification." //Desertification//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. < [] >.

"Desertification." //University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. < [] >.

"Desertification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. < [] >.

"Desertification - a threat to the Sahel." //Eden Foundation//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. < [] >.

"Good Agricultural Practices - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. < [] >.

"Sahel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. < [] >.

Stephen, Rosemary. "Climate Change and Environmental Refugees Part II: Can we Decrease the Number of Environmental Refugees ?."//Elements: Environmental Health Intelligence — A discourse on the issues and challenges that face Environmental Health Professionals everyday.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. < [] >.

"Wikipedia:File:Sahel rainfall timeseries en.svg - Global Warming Art." //Global Warming Art//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. < >.

= The Aswan Dam =



****General Description****

Situated between the northern border of Egypt and Sudan, there lies one of the most controversial, yet beneficial dams in the world. also known as the //High Dam//, the rock-filled dam stands guards against one of the most fieriest, Nile River, with the share of Lake Nasser in southeastern Egypt. Being 364 feet tall and 12,565 feet wide, it seemed evident how cooperative construction with the Soviet Union has built a dam that can cause major pros and cons in the country society. Beginning the construction in 1960, it took the two countries 10 years in order to finish this massive dam. Starting with an environment when farming industries still took major roles in both employment and agricultural necessities, the dam became a major suggestion when the Nile River had an occasion where it flooded the crops away, or when it enriched the fertile soil with minerals from natural water along the delta and the adjacent lands along the river. Basically a dam to control the flooding of the Nile River, an increase in population throughout time has developed a dam where nature was simply controllable; of course, with some consequences.



=**Specific Description and Possible Solution** =

So what are these consequences? What are these problems? Are the benefits? In terms of the Aswan Dam, there are currently two different benefits that are being made from this massive production: growth of human population and energy production in Egypt. First of all, because the damage from the flooding of the Nile River is being reduced, the number of deaths, and even the number of agricultural necessities such as crops as being saved. This leads to an increase in Egypt’s population, which makes the Aswan Dam a benefactor. Not only that, the dam has brought major tourist attractions from all over the world, along with the its irrigation system. The dam allows an irrigation system that enables the river for drinking water, electricity, as well as transportation. This leads to a far more easier cultivation of farmer’s crops than when the past flooding destroyed the crops without the dam. Since the dam, Egypt irrigation in 1997 was estimated to be over 3.3 million hectares, leading all of Africa. Irrigation and population growth is not the only factor that is of benefit. As time progressed by, technology enabled the dam’s system to be used as the mother of energy in egypt. Powering 1/3 of all of Egypt’s energy today, by 1970 the dam was producing half of Egypt’s energy supply. Now not only did the dam prevent major floods, help increase the Egyptian population, develop irrigation, but it produced the major portion of energy in Egypt. Christopher Rose, an author of the research, //People and Place Curriculum Resources on Human-Environmental Interactions,// he quotes, “By the mid-1970s, the Aswan High Dam was producing half of Egypt’s electrical supply. The new electrical production allowed many villages to have electricity for the first time. The Aswan High Dam…produces about 15% of the country’s needs each year”. (Rose, 7)Yet, the dam did not have everything the people of Egypt hoped for. If so, it had more //problems// than solutions.

One of the problematic concerns from the dam is presumably the silt that have been deposited from the floods on the land’s surfaces along the Nile River for centuries. However, now with the enormous dam blocking the silt’s fertilization along the way, farmers cannot get access to the fertile silt flowing downstream. The dam’s prevention of the silt’s fertilization forces more and more farmers to purchase expensive fertilizers to keep their soil fertile for farming. These chemical fertilizers indeed, are not a good substitute for the natural silt, since high levels of Phosphorus and Nitrogen flowing from the cropland straight to the flow of water. Not only that, without the silt’s enrichment along the river, the lands around these areas have also led to erosion, and growth discontinuation of the Mediterranean coast’s delta. These factors increase algae growth as well as algal blooms, which can along with the increasing erosion, can produce particles that clog fish’s gills and decrease fishery. Without the main fertilization of silt, the domino-affect of one problem to another causes this massive collapse of the environment. So what’s the solution? Indeed, one of the main solutions Egypt is able to take in the dam is to construct a special spillway especially for the silt, in order for it to be washed downstream. This would enable the silt to take its role of fertilization, and thus, disabling all the other harmful effects that results from the other.

Another problem that is being derived from the construction of this enormous dam is the intestinal and urinary disease that is being spread since the construction of the dam. Because the dam is blocking the natural flow of the river, microscopic worms which breed in snails that are from the Nile and the canals are being transmitted across the people who are settled around the river. With over 60 million people living along the Nile River and 160 million people depending their lives and jobs from it, it seems evident how deadly this disease can be. While the snails died when the canals dried up following the annual floods, because the dam enables the people to control the flood, altering mother nature has enabled the snails to continue livening today, spreading various urinary and intestinal diseases, such as Schistosomiasis. A possible solution to this problem would be vaccinations, or monthly physical check ups. Various urinary and intestinal disease can be checked once a month by a local doctor to ensure this disease does not harm the enormous population living along the river and the dam.



Yet it is very clear that water evaporation is one of the main problems that can be detrimental to Africa. Since the development of the Aswan Dam, Lake Nasser has been experiencing an extreme loss of water every year. Since Lake Nasser derives its formation from a hot region, evaporation has enabled a major loss of water; the evaporation of water ranges between 10 to 16 billion cubic meter every year. This number is not only monumental, but is extremely detrimental to Egypt, representing 20% to 30% of the Egyptian income of the Nile River. However, the disappearance of water just does not stop. As mentioned in the benefits of the Aswan Dam, Egypt’s population has been growing in such a fast rate, resulting in more and more necessity of the water. The need for freshwater is growing every year, and with the water evaporating along with the growing necessity, experts predict the dam’s stoppage of the natural flow of the river will son vanish almost all of the water by 2025. Being such a big issue, a solution to this problem is still being discussed among the African countries that the river flows through, such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt. Because the destruction of the dam would cause major financial spending and the disability of people using the river’s resources, this solution cannot be considered. One solution that is possible is a cooling system a big, external surrounding, similar to a tunnel-like shell around the whole river. Yes, it is true that it may cost similar, or more to the amount of destroying the dam. However, the dam is simply a necessity of the Egyptian people, and also the African people outside of Egypt. With the majority of water predicted to vanish in 2025, it is worth the financial spending to help prevent the water from evaporating by putting an external surrounding, like the cap for the stove. Whatever the solution may be, it is agreeable that the countries need to take fast actions to resolve this issue, since so many people’s lives are depended on the river.

= **Citations** =

CDC. "Schistosomiasis - Page 1." //Microsoft Internet Information Server//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011.

 Egypt, the growth of the population in. "The First Aswan Dam." //University of Michigan//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011.< [] >

 "Environmental Impact of the Aswan High Dam."//Invironmental Impact of the High Aswan Dam//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011.< [] >

PBS. "BUILDING BIG: Databank: Aswan High Dam."//PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011.< [] >

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.< [] >

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. < [] >