Download Water in the Desert-2014

Water Liquid Gold
• Dry Land
Problems
– Much of the M.E. and N. Africa are covered with
desert. Sahara, Rub Al Khali, and part of Iran and
Afghanistan are also desert.
• Drought Conditions
– In the 1990’s severe droughts began and rainfall in
the M.E. fell to less than 10%
• Population Growth
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M.E. countries are experiencing population growth
Growth rates average 2.5%
Egypt’s population had grown by 1 million people
20% of land with more than 10% of population and
2% fresh water.
Problems Continued
• Agriculture
– Agricultural use of water is enormous
– In Jordan, farming makes up less than 10% of GDP,
but uses 80% of the water
• Pollution
– Poor water quality is a result of development and
agriculture
– Septic tank leaks, run off from livestock and
pesticides, oil and gas drilling
– Tigris, Nile, and Euphrates are polluted
Jordan, Euphrates, and
Tigris are getting smaller
Solutions
• Desalination
– Removes salt from seawater
– Heated, steamed, then cooled
– Expensive and uses a lot of energy
• Treated Wastewater
– Some treat wastewater multiple times
– Used for crops
– People fear conatmination
• Imports
– Pipelines built for water distribution
– Countries must work together to maintain pipelines
Solutions Continued
• Alternative Water Sources
– Storing rainwater, capture winter thaws,
importing water tankers, cloud seeding
• Conservation
– Bedouins live on 4-5 liters of water per day
– Gulf states are among the highest users in the
world
How does access to water
effect the population?
• What areas have the highest population?
– Along river valleys
– Turkey
– And where the aquifers are located
• What areas have the least population?
– The driest areas- Central Yemen, Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Egypt outside of the Nile.
Did you know…
• One billion people lack access to clean
water.
• Nearly half of the world’s population will
live in water-stressed areas by 2025.
• Many say that the next war fought in the
Middle East will be over water, not oil.
Why isn’t desalination a quick
fix?
• Desalination Plants are very expensive to
build
• Countries like Yemen and Jordan cannot
afford to build them.