REPORT14

Type in the content of your new page here. Ean Marshall E-Research Ms. Ellis 9-30-08

The Desertification of the Sahara

Is the Sahara, already the world’s largest desert, still constantly expanding, but at a much faster rate than we predict? According to many sources, the answer seems to be a grim yes. The question is, how did this happen? How is the expansion going to affect the wildlife, climate, environment, and the people of the Sahara and surrounding area? And what we can do to slow it down?

The Sahara is a vast, arid, wasteland, with the Atlantic Ocean to the West and the Indian Ocean to the East. It is very arid, and it gets less than 2 cm of rain each year. An example of the type of land found in the Sahara is this:http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/1ds-4/sahara-desert-sand-dune.jpg. It encompasses 9 countries total, which are: Libya, Egypt, Niger, Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, and Sudan. The Sahara was actually once a lush savanna, but 5,440 of years ago, it dried up, and the Sahara became the desert it became today. As a result of this desertification, humans emigrated to the Fertile Crescent, where civilization as we know it began. Nonetheless, some nomadic tribes stayed, and these became the descendants of the Berbers who live from western Egypt to Morocco, the Tuareg peoples of central Sahara, the Beja of southeastern Egypt, the Fur of western Sudan, the Tega of northern Chad, and the Daza of south eastern Niger, among others. Today, most of these people speak either their ethnic languages or Arabic, as they are Muslims. The flora of the Sahara, although quite sparse, includes shrubs, acacia, myrtle, oleander, and palm trees, and a few rare plants. The fauna of the Sahara is much more in number, and includes the following: fatal scorpions, monitor lizards, pit vipers, fennec foxes, hyraxes (who are close relatives of the elephant!), flightless ostriches, addax antelopes (which are threatened both by the expansion of the desert and over hunting), camels (who have been domesticated), and even a few cheetahs, although they are usually found in Nigeria, Chad, and Mali. Some pictures of these creatures can be found below.But as a result of the expanding desert, species of animals living in the regions below the Sahara may experience desertification, and may soon die out. Evidence for the Sahara’s expansion is that in 1980, it was 8,633,000 square kilometers, but then was 9,982,000 square kilometers four years later. Also, the dust from the Sahara has cooled Atlantic sea temperatures, which has reduced the number of hurricanes in America (5 in 2007, compared to 15 in 2005.) And while the people of the Western Hemishphere may benefit as a result, the increased presence of dust signals a hotter and thus increased expansion of the Sahara. One way the people of the Sahara have been preventing desertification in this region is by making sand fences, which can prevent sand from ruining their crops and drought. the number of animals on the land are also being reduced, which allows plants to regrow. Soil conditions are being made favourable for plant growth by, for example, mulching. Mulch (a layer of straw, leaves or sawdust covering the soil) reduces evaporation, suppresses weed growth, enriches soil as it rots, and prevents runoff and hence erosion. Reseeding is necessary for badly degraded areas in the Sahara. Mulching and reseeding are expensive though, so these approaches are limited. One large-scale approach is to prevent desertification through good land management in semi-arid areas. Senegal has also launched a green wall, where people will build plants across the Sahara. Hopefully, more countries won’t suffer the Sahara’s wrath, and you can help by joining conservation groups like World Wildlife Fund.