Sahara Desert
The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest desert area. The word Sahara comes from the Arabic word sahra’, meaning desert. It extends from the Africa’s Atlantic Ocean side to the Red Sea and consists of the countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. It is about 5,200 miles long. Overall, the Sahara Desert covers 3,500,000 square miles. The geography of the desert is varied. In the west, the Sahara is rocky with varied elevation. It does contain underground rivers, which sometime penetrate the surface, resulting in oases. The central region of the Sahara has more elevation than the other areas, with peaks such as Emi Koussi and Tahat. Even though the area lacks rainfall, these peaks are snowcapped during the winter. The Eastern part of the Sahara, the Libyan Desert, is dry with very few oases.
The Sahara's landscape features include shallow basins, large oasis depressions, gravel-covered plains, plateaus, and mountains, sand sheets, dunes and sand seas. Sand sheets and dunes cover over 25 percent of the Sahara’s surface. The most common types of dunes include tied dunes, blowout dunes, and transverse dunes. Within the Sahara are several pyramidal dunes that reach over 500 feet in height while others reach over 1,000 feet. Researchers have for many years tried to figure out how these dunes were formed, but the case remains unsolved.
The boundaries, however, are not clearly defined and have been shifting for millennia. The Sahara was once a fertile area; millet was cultivated there over 8000 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, the Sahara was used as land for grazing in which elephants, giraffes and other animals thrived. It is estimated that in 4,000 B.C., the climate began to get drier. The fertile landscape dried up and the desert widened, creating the form that appears today. As conditions gradually became drier, however, and desertification set in, farmers abandoned their land and the animals migrated to other areas.
The Sahara’s climate is very hot and dry. Although it is very hot during the day, it does become cold at night. On average, it only has 8 inches of rainfall per year. The Sahara's climate consists of b...
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... whole, the Sahara is one of the harshest environments known to man. The majority of the people living in the Sahara Desert are nomads, which means that these people continuously move from region to region in search of better living conditions. It is believed that the first nomadic peoples came to this region after domestic animals were introduced to the Sahara 7,000 years ago. Evidence suggests that the Sahara accumulated diverse groups that quickly formed dense populations throughout the region. The majority of the groups lived separately, but depended on each other for trade.
One of the main problems that are happening to the Sahara desert is the continuing development of the boundaries of the desert. This is known as desertification. As global warming continues to increase, the probability of more desert regions becoming bigger is more likely.
Bibliography
n.a. http://library.thinkquest.org/10898/sahara.htm. “Sahara Desert” ThinkQuest 1998.
n.a. http://library.advanced.org/~16645/the_land/saha_cl.shtml “People and Places: Sahara Desert” 1998.
"Sahara," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
During its years of development, specifically around in 3500, the ancient land of Egypt was located close to multiple continents, these continents being Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was separated into different divisions, mainly geographical, there being four major physical geographic sections. The first was water-based, the Nile Valley and Delta, the second two were deserts, Eastern Desert and Western Desert, and the last was the Sinai Peninsula. The ancient Egyptians also considered their land to be separated in two more divisions: “red land” and “black land”. The desert surrounding Egypt was the “red land” section because it was barren. The area served as a means of protection, as it divided Egypt from enemies that wanted to attack and ...
In the southern margins of the Sahara Desert, going southward toward East Africa are tall, rather thin dark skin peoples called the Nuer. To the Nuer horticulture is degrading toil. The Nuer live the pastoral mode of production with their primary dependancy on animal husbandry, cattle. Although the cattle is not raised for the meat, unless they become barren, or injured they eat them under special conditions. Usually adapt in dry grassland with short growing seasons.
The Sahel zone has been made virtually uninhabitable from the effects of Desertification. There is a lot less amount of crops being produced by the Sahelian farmers. About 50 years ago farmers use to produce 7 times as much produce as now. [IMAGE] [IMAGE] This is a climate graph for Ethiopia, which is in the Sahel zone, and as you can see on the Temperature is very high and the average precipitation is low for what the temperature is in most months.
Niger is eighty-percent desert which doesn't provide natural resources or availability of water, even though the Niger River is a huge resource for Niger. With its beautiful, sparkling water flowing southwest in a sort of crescent shape it is a place of relief. Along this river, they have wonderful areas for farming and grazing and one can find the most populous city and the capitol Niger called Niamey. This Sub-Saharan country not only has the Sahara desert to deal with, but the Tener...
Economic ways started in the nineteenth century, still have a hold on the countries of the sub-Sahara today. These countries are all impoverished and have seen horrific civil wars, however, the general consensus is that they are making slow improvements in their economy. The starvation, overpopulation and health problems are still very evident. Perhaps continued assistance coupled with education and protection will keep them on the road to stability and more rewarding lives for their citizens.
In short, agriculture reliant purely on levels of sufficient rainfall was destined for failure in the Negev desert region, which is characterized by its low precipitation and high evaporation. Moreover, facing the Negev’s unpredictable and sporadic yearly precipitation patterns with “local [rains that] affect[ed] small areas of several km2”, effective farming required a more proactive approach to subsistence
In Ancient Egypt they use the Nile River and the Sahara Desert in some many ways that benefited them. Ancient Egypt was divided into two land different land, the black land and red land. The black land was the fertile land that the Nile River made and the red land was the desert of Egypt. They use the Nile River for the fertile soil that was left after the river was not flooded, so that they could use that fertile soil for growing crops. They would also use the Nile River for fishing, washing their clothes, and sometimes they would trade with others for resources that they needed. The Sahara Desert was used for protection against other invading armies. The climate was always hot and very dry; this is what made it really hard for farming if you lived in the desert area.
Dry lands is a previous stage into what can develop the atrocity of desertification. These plains of ground lack moisture. These areas lose it either to evaporation or by transpiration of plants. Generally the land that is considered dry lands is still used by primitive technologies within herding and farming. This weak land is put on even l...
There are many countries that are located in dried up areas which are the hottest areas in the world. Some of the countries located on the earth’s equator are surrounded by desert and the majority of the land consists mostly of sand which does not hold water. There are not enough trees to absorb water during rainy season. In some areas, there is no rain for several years. The temperature is very high during the dry season. Jay W. Sharp states in his article The Sahara Desert, the temperature in desert areas are extremely hot. The average temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and it can reach 136 degrees Fahrenheit. For example, Sudan, where Nya lives, is generally extremely hot and dry because the country has no forest and is surrounded by the Sahara Desert, the second largest hot desert in the world and covering many countries that include Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and others. Similarly, in the book A Long Walk to Water, Nya finds water every day for the family. During the summer, there is no water in the pond near her village, so she has to move to the big lake. Even at the lake, it is still dried up, too. Because water is essential, she has to dig into the clay to get the water, but it is unhealthy, and it is the cause of disease and death. Nya’s little sister, Akeer, had stomachaches because of drinking unclean water. There are many people who suffer from the same illness, and many of them have died. In these countries in this area, it is hard to find water. Even if it was found, it is still undrinkable
Morocco,is a country in the northwestern corner of Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, separates Morocco from Spain by only about 8 miles (13 kilometers). Fertile plains lie along Morocco's coasts, and forested mountains stretch across the middle of the country from southwest to northeast. Beyond the mountains lies a sun-baked desert, the Sahara. Rabat is Morocco's capital, and Casablanca is the largest city. Nearly all Moroccans are of mixed Arab and Spanish descent. But the people make up two distinct ethnic groups--Arab and Spanish--depending mainly on whether they speak Arabic or Spanish. Almost all Moroccans are Muslims. Farming is the chief occupation, and more than half the people live in rural areas. France and Spain controlled Morocco from the early 1900's until it won independence in 1956.
Sands, varying from yellow to red in color, form dunes. reaching 240 m (800 ft) in height. The annual rainfall averages only 25 mm (1. in), but high humidity results in fog and dew. In the north deep canyons have been cut by the stream.
Since 1960s both minimum and maximum temperatures have exhibited a rising trend; with minimum increasing by a range of 0.7-2.0 degrees Celsius and maximum by 0.2-1.3 degree Celsius varying by region and season. Notable also is variability of rainfall patterns such as below normal rainfall in the long rains season and more during the short rainfall season, some regions have recorded more intense rainfall and downpours that have resulted to floods and infrastructural impairments. Extinction or near extinction of flora and fauna, changes in flowering and maturity patterns in crops are all attributable to climate change. These changes have had and are expected to have far reaching impacts on the economic sectors of the economy. Some of the expected sectoral impacts are discussed
The vast desert is treacherous and without mercy. But for travelers willing to battle the harsh climate and brutal winds, the desert can reveal riches unimaginable. In Through the Desert, two to five players each control a tribe of nomads vying for control of the desert. By establishing lines of caravans and taking over oases, the players gain points as their tribes increase in power. Although gameplay appears to be straightforward, Through the Desert actually has many underlying lessons and concepts that players ultimately incorporate into their actions. Through the Desert encourages college-aged individuals to seize limited resources and dominate as much land as possible, which teaches the concepts that territory is power and selfish actions
The whole region consists of vast deserts and semi-arid lands (See Attachment 2. Geographical ... ... middle of paper ... ... /aralsea/ asa_dis.htm Operational Research http://www.msf.org/aralsea/op_res.htm