Human+and+Environment+Interaction

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Desertification
= = == Desertification is the extreme deterioration of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas due to loss of vegetation and soil moisture. Desertification results chiefly from man-made activities and influenced by climatic variations. It is principally caused by overgrazing, overdrafting of groundwater and diversion of water from rivers for human consumption and industrial use, all of these processes fundamentally driven by overpopulation. Farming is said to be able to aid in accelerating the progress of desertification of a land.

The North African environment is being threatened by the ever expanding deserts. An immense portion of the land in Africa is already a desert. This crisis affects both the humans and the environment heavily because these vast regions of low/no vegetation and infertile soil can not be utilized. This process affects currently the Sahel, a dry grassland that runs along the southern edge of the Sahara.

Expanding deserts are taking away the habitats of multiple organisms including that of humans. Deforestation is also said to be a huge cause of desertification because of increased erosion levels when the land becomes exposed to the wind.

= = =Oil =

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= = A lot of North African and Southwest Asian countries have an economy that is heavily dependent on the oil deposits in their land. Oil has caused much of the pollution in these areas due to oil spills and fires. Oil spills are extremely harmful to the land because it is toxic to vegetation, marine life, and land organisms. Oil fires are capable of devastating a vast stretch of land, killing a lot of people, and producing a significant amount of green house gases.

Although oil is becoming more scarce in these regions, the Southwest Asia and Northern African countries remain as one of the top oil producers in the world. The problem with oil dependent countries is, however, that these countries have nothing to fall back on. Also, the few oil company owners have all the money in the economy.

= = =Dams =

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Dams are barriers that divide a river mainly to retain water. Dams are very useful in creating electricity, regulating floods (Although they sometimes makes it worse), and creates more farmland.

There are numerous downsides however. First, dams disrupt regular river ecosystem behaviors. The dam in the Nile River stopped the floods, creating less fertile farmlands.

There are dams in most of the Southwestern countries. Some dams are diversionary, which means that the dams are used to divert the flow of rivers for the purpose of irrigation. Check dams reduce soil erosion and reduce river velocity. Dry dams are used to control flooding. These dams usually allow water to flow freely unless there is danger of a flood.

A large area has to be evacuated for these dams to be set in place. When these areas are flooded, countless ancient artifacts are lost forever. In many cases, the building of dams were met with heavy resistance from both the residents of this area and archeologists.

 Deforestation
Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/o r burning of trees in a forested area.There are several reasons deforestation occurs. The lumber could be used for commercial usages. The land may be cleared for usages like farming or cattle ranching. Deforestation often results in the damaged ecosystem, biodiversity, and aridity.

There are many causes for deforestation which include:  corruption of government institution, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth overpopulation, and urbanization. African forests are in danger because less than 2% of it is under government protection. The deforestation rate in Africa is four times that of the rest of the world. Carbon payments, or paying people for reducing the amount of carbon produced could be one of the solutions. It would give incentives to people to start reducing their carbon emissions. It was reported that although some governments have started creating laws to protect land ownership, in a lot of other countries in Africa, the laws themselves do not have much power. Deforestation is dangerous because it accelerates the rate of soil erosion. When the soil-binding roots are no longer present, it becomes much easier for wind to damage the soil.

Water Crisis
Water crisis is a growing issue world wide as some organizations and governments start to recognize an issue of water shortage. The major idea of the water crisis is that there is a growing water scarcity around the world. Water wars are likely in areas where rivers and lakes are shared by more than one country, according to a UN Development Programme (UNDP) report. The Nile River is one of the regions that have a potential of going through these crises within the North Africa region. There is a prediction that states that if the combined population of the three countries the Nile runs through-- Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt-- rises as predicted from 150 million today to 340 million in 2050 then there could be intense competition for increasingly limited water resources. Even the water that is currently available is becoming unusable because of the heavy pollution that is taking place in a majority of these regions. The major problem with a water crisis is not only a shortage of drinking and washing water, but a problem with agriculture. By not having sufficient amounts of water to irrigate to farming lands, there is no food as well. While it is obvious that water is essential to our lives, we must consider that in some parts of the world, it is not a given. This issue must be observed with greater recognition.

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