SS7G6:Environmental Issues in SW Asia

1. SS7G6:Environmental Issues in SW Asia Water in the Middle East… More precious than oil?

2. Essential Questions: • How has the water supply in the Middle East influenced the lives of the people? • How does it affect where people live? • How does water pollution IMPACT drinking water? • How does water scarcity impact irrigation and the lives of farmers?

3. Vocabulary • Pollution:Uncleanenvironment • Unequal Distribution: uneven amounts • Irrigation: Bring waterto an area • Scarce:notenough of something • Desalination: the process of removing salt, especially from sea water so that it can be used for drinkingor irrigation

4. Problems with water in the Middle East • Water Pollution: • Found in high amounts across SW Asia • Most nations are “developing countries” in which pollution is more problematic • Causes multiple deathsin regions

5. Statistics: • Population v. Freshwater: • SW Asia has 5%of the total WORLD’S population • SW Asia only has less than 1% of the world’s freshwater • Populations in SW Asia have lower consumptionrates of water than other regions

6. Where is the water? • SW Asia obtains freshwater from sources such as: • Tigris River • Euphrates River • Jordan River • Nile River (in Africa) • Conflicts occur in SW Asia due to freshwater usage: • Turkey, Syria, and Iraq are fighting for water in the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers • Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians are fighting for water in the Jordan River

7. When resources are scarce, or rare, people often compete for them. • For example: We already know that people have sometimes fought over oil • Everybodyin SW Asia needs to be able to use the water, but there is only a limitedamount • Most cities/towns are located on or near a water source…why?

8. This is a satellite image of SW Asia. What colors do you see a lot in this image? You see a lot of tan, brown, and gray because SW Asia is largely desert. By definition, a desert has very little what? Deserts have very little water. How are people able to grow crops in a desert?

9. How does water scarcity impact farming? • Many people in the Middle East practice subsistence agriculture, which is growing small amounts of crops, to take care of local needs. • Because the climateis so dry, agriculture nearly always depends on irrigation, directing water from small rivers and streams to the farmers’ fields. • There is some commercial agriculture(growing crops for industrial markets), but even that is limited by lack of water.

10. Farmers in very ruralareas still use methods used by their ancestors to irrigate their fields, including water wheels, irrigation ditches and canals, and animalpower to lift water from underground wells. • Farmers in countries with more technologyuse modernirrigation techniques. • Israel and Saudi Arabia have developed systems of drip irrigationusing computers that measure out how much water each plant receives.

11. These fields are round because that is where the sprinklers go. Since water is scarce, they have to use irrigation to grow food. Water is pumped from the few rivers and lakes in the region to irrigation systems that water food crops. Communities formed near water sources like rivers, lakes, and oases. The water from these rivers and lakes is critical for the survival of a country.

12. How do water pollution and the unequal distribution of water impactirrigation and drinking water?

13. Water pollution, especially in an already scarce region such as the Middle East, can make it very difficultfor citizens to get the water that they need to live. • Pollutionupstream can negatively impact the healthand way of life for neighbors downstream.

14. Unequal distribution of water (such as our Turkey/Syria/Iraq example) can “cheat” countries downstream out of water when the country that holds the sourceof a major river uses more than their fair share.

15. Irrigation canals can help the country in which they are built by bringing water to dry farmland, but they can keep countries downstreamfrom even having enough drinking water.

16. Solutions to water issues… • Desalination: the process of removing salt and other chemicals from seawater • However, this is not very practical because it is very expensive and requires advanced technology • Cooperation among countries sharing freshwater • Dams • However, the downside is dams can be beneficial to countries upstream but deprive countries downstream of water they need!

17. More controversy… When onecountry controls the source (of the water), they essentially controlhow much water will actually leave their country and continue flowing on to neighboring nations.

18. Brewing conflicts… • Iranis creating a new $88 million pipelineto carry more water to their capital city of Tehran • Iraq is digging new irrigation canals to bring more water to Baghdad • Turkeyis starting a new project which could potentially take water from the Tigris and Euphrates away from Syria and Iraq

19. Now that you have taken the notes, please answer the essential questions below: • How has the water supply in the Middle East influenced the lives of the people?  • How does it affect where people live? • How does water pollution IMPACT drinking water? • How does water scarcity impact irrigation and the lives of farmers?