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Southwest Asia (Middle East) Environmental Issues

Water needs have caused many conflicts between countries in the Middle East. Who owns the scarce water? Who should be allowed to divert water for irrigation? There are no enforceable laws to govern the use of water between countries. Below are some of the main problems caused by unequal distribution of scarce water resources in Southwest Asia.

Turkey- In the highlands of Turkey, snow melts to form the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Turkey is better off than its neighbors because of these rivers, but pollution from industry and agriculture is a growing problem. The pollution flows downstream to the countries of Syria and Iraq. Oil spills pollute the Black Sea.

Turkey, Syria, and Iraq: Turkey built dams along the Euphrates River to use the water for hydroelectric power and irrigation. This water usage has reduced the flow of water reaching Syria. In turn, Syria built a dam and reduced the river’s flow into Iraq. in 1975, Syria and Iraq came close to war over water issues! Iraq faces polluted waters from industry, and war damage to water treatment facilities and oil drilling equipment.

Israel: water usage is up, and rainfall is down, leading Israel to draw more water from its aquifers. More water is being taken out than is being replenished by rain, and salt is able to enter the aquifers which ruins the remaining water. Israel has been in military conflicts with Jordan over rights to the Jordan River.

Aquifer- an underground layer of rock and sand that contains water.

Iran: Iran is also depleting the water in its aquifers for irrigation and drinking water. One of Iran’s most important crops, pistachios, is being severely hurt by water shortages in the southern areas of the country.

Afghanistan: Open sewers, failed septic systems, fertilizers, drought and pesticides are contaminating Afghanistan’s shrinking water supply.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia faces severe problems in its desert climate, including water scarcity and poor quality of ground water from its aquifers. One solution is desalinization, which is the process of taking salt out of sea water. Saudi Arabia has used income from its sales of oil to invest in desalinization plants. This has made water more available yet expensive . About 30 desalinization plants provide most of the country’s drinking water.

Desalinization plant on the Caspian Sea

Life in the Middle East

Climate:What is it like to live in the Middle East? The climate varies, but it is mostly arid with hot dry summers and cool winters. If you live along the Caspian Sea coast of northern Iran , you might have 80 inches of rain a year. However, in the deserts of Iran , rain might not fall for several years! Throughout Saudi Arabia, the most rainfall you could expect in a year would be nine inches. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, the average yearly temperature is 79◦F. Ankara, the capital of Turkey, gets as cold as 32◦F in January.

Oil Brings EmploymentIn the Middle East you will find dense populations around areas where oil is found. Some of the people are natives of that country while many others have come from other nearby nations to work in the oil industry. The face of the Middle East began to change in the 1930s when huge oil reserves were found in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. The world’s attention has turned more towards the Middle East as its need for oil has grown. The industrialized nations saw the Middle East as a source of oil to fuel its factories and cars. Before the discovery of oil, the Middle East was not considered an important area for trade in the world. That picture has certainly changed!

There is an uneven distribution of oil in the Middle East. The sale of oil has earned huge amounts of money for oil rich countries. Oil rich Iraq and Iran are the most populated countries of the Middle East, but their countries have suffered from war and mismanagement of money. Money from oil has transformed Saudi Arabia from a poor society to a very wealthy one. Turkey has benefitted from the oil industry as a transportation hub for oil rich countries moving their product to Europe. Afghanistan looks to profit as a transportation link of oil from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. Geologists and oil companies have recently uncovered a small reserve of oil in Israel. Not all Middle Eastern countries have oil reserves.

Traditional ways of life are disappearing as the oil industry grows and modernizes the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, most of the population was nomadic or semi-nomadic until the 1960s. Because of the oil industry, more than 95% of the population now lives in cities.

Nomadic-a group of people who have no fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search of food, water, and grazing land.

Amazing But True! About half of the world’s oil reserves are in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer!

Where People Live and Work

In the Middle East, people have adapted to the climate and physical characteristics of the land to earn a living.

Life in the DesertThere are 2.8 million square miles of land in the Middle East and much of it is desert. Over the last 50 years, residents have been leaving the nomadic life of the desert and settling in or near large cities for work. In Saudi Arabia, only about 1% of the population remains as nomadic herders. There are huge stretches of desert in Saudi Arabia where few people live or work and the population is less than 1 person per square mile.

Follow the Water

Throughout the Middle East, you’ll find cities built near rivers to take advantage of a water source in an arid (dry) land. Away from the cities you’ll find farmers growing crops by rivers and in river valleys, just as they have done since ancient times. Except in the mountainous regions, areas around a river or stream are well populated. In modern Iraq and eastern Syria, fertile soil is found in the “Fertile Crescent” between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. With canals built to use the river for travel and irrigation, this fertile area is home to many people.

Afghanistan has very little land to farm and most farming is done in valleys with irrigation from their few rivers or springs. About 70% of the population works on small farms or herds livestock.

In every country with a deep-sea harbor, the population swells around port cities because of employment opportunities in ship building, and repair, and shipping industries. Turkey has major port cities along the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Seas. Port cities also dot the coast of Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Transportation

Getting from here to there is often challenging in the Middle East! Residents have developed many means of transportation to adapt to different conditions. Examples include:

Iraq: the number of people driving car sis growing and new roads are being built, but public transportation has not been updated. 1 in every 4 urban Iranian families owns a car. Urban areas experience heavy traffic and air pollution. People in the poorer areas of the city have little access to public transportation such as buses or trains. This has led to less employment opportunities for poor families who live on the outskirts of the cities. From 2003 to 2009 the number of cars in Baghdad, Iraq has tripled and now the government has enforced an odd / even license plate system where people can only drive every other day!

Afghanistan: There are less than 16 miles of railroad track in Afghanistan. People must pile into buses or trucks along with animals and produce to get from place to place. They even ride on the roofs of vehicles. City dwellers often ride bicycles. In the countryside, people usually walk, ride donkeys, horses, or camels.

Turkey: People drive or take the bus using the country’s modern and inexpensive public transportation system. Most good travel on Turkey’s extensive highway system because the old railway system is badly in need of repair and upgrading. Slightly larger than Texas, Turkey has 127 airports and 18 heliports for international and local travel.

Iran: has 55 cars for every 1,00 people. Paved roads connect all of the main cities and many small towns. The cities have good mass transportation systems and nearly 7,000 miles of railroad encourage transportation by train.

Israel: has very crowded roads and the government is urging citizens to ride buses by raising parking fees and setting up bus –only roads in cities.