4.1: The Natural Environment
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- 147510
- Describe the physical geography of Southwest Asia and North Africa.
- Identify key bodies of water, mountain ranges, and plate tectonic boundaries.
- Evaluate the importance of water, arable land, and oil in the region.
Physical Boundaries of Southwest Asia and North Africa
Southwest Asia and North Africa are home to diverse physical landscapes and high mountain systems that feed into ancient river systems. SWANA is largely defined by vast deserts like the Sahara. The region is also bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the northwest, mountain ranges in Iran and Turkey, the Indian Ocean to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
In response to the environmental conditions, the people of this region have developed cultural systems. SWANA is home to some of humankind's earliest agriculture, and humans continue to transform the physical landscape in profound ways. The Sinai Peninsula's sandy deserts and mountains are framed by the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba at the northern tip of the Red Sea. Gebel Katherina (Mountain of St. Catherine, 2637 meters) and Gebel Musa are the highest peaks (Mountain of Moses, also known as Mount Sinai, 2285 meters).
To the northeast, Israel and Jordan flank the Dead Sea, one of the world's saltiest inland bodies of water. Qumran is located on its northern border, with Jerusalem to the west. There are several large rivers. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow southeast through Iraq. The dark area between the two rivers, northwest of the Persian Gulf, is a very fertile region with a high concentration of fishing and farming. The Nile winds its way through eastern Egypt. Lake Nasser and the Aswan Dam are to the south, and the Nile continues north, passing the Temple of Luxor as it loops to the east. It then turns west and north, eventually passing through Cairo and spreading into a large delta before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The great Pyramids and Sphinx structures on the Giza Plateau are marked by a vivid dot just west of the delta's apex. The ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt's main seaport, is located on the coast west of the delta.
Arid Environments
The dominant bio-climatic feature of SWANA is aridity, or less than 10 inches (250 milliliters) of precipitation. The extensive east and west orientation of SWANA’s territory is near the Tropic of Cancer (23.N) where global air circulation patterns drive the region’s arid conditions. The low-pressure systems that arise because of the direct sun on the equator releases moisture and leads to tropical rainforests near the equator. The prevailing winds carry air masses to the subtropics, characterized by a high-pressure system of descending dry warm air which results in the world’s deserts. The Sahara desert, the world’s largest hot desert, spans much of North Africa and serves as a main geographical feature in distinguishing North Africa from Africa south of the Sahara. The Arabian Desert is dominant throughout the Arabian Peninsula, from Yemen to Iraq, as an extension of the Sahara Desert. There are also many Semi-arid environments, or environments with slightly more than 10 inches of precipitation, in much of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Yemen.
SWANA is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of a warming planet because it already experiences annual summer temperatures of 100°F (38°C) in most places. Adding to SWANA’s vulnerability is the predominance of soils low in fertility. Because of mineral deficiencies in the soil and low precipitation, irrigation of crops is necessary. Unfortunately, this leads to salinization. Salinization is the accumulation of water-soluble salts in the soil. When the water evaporates, the salts are left behind. The main causes of salinization of soil are flooding, over-irrigation, seepage, silting, and a rising water table.
SWANA’s aridity is broken up by a variety of environments, including fertile areas and mild climates. Turkey and the Nile floodplains have fertile soils, and the Central Highlands of Yemen receive rainfall from the Indian Ocean's summer monsoon. SWANA has fertile soils, mostly along river floodplains and in Yemen's Central Highlands, which receive rainfall during the summer Indian Ocean monsoon season. Additionally, the coastal mountain areas receive more rainfall than the rest of the region. In fact, the mountain ranges of Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon receive most of the the region's rainfall. A rainshadow effect occurs on the central Anatolian Plateau in Turkey and the Syrian Plateau. The high peaks create conditions for condensation and rainfall on one side of the mountain while arid climatic conditions persist on the other. Mild Mediterranean climates follow the coasts of Morocco, Libya, Israel, and Syria along the Mediterranean Sea. Syria's biomes include desert, semiarid, Mediterranean, and steppe grasslands. Despite vast swaths of arid and semi-arid climates, the majority of human populations have settled around bodies of water and in Mediterranean climate regions.
Tectonic Activity and Mountain Ranges
The tectonic activity of SWANA is shaped by the interaction of several tectonic plates. The plate boundaries of the region include a diverging boundary that is continually splitting the Red Sea as the Arabia Plate moves northeast carrying the Arabian Peninsula away from Africa and towards Eurasia. This motion began millions of years ago, creating a rift valley that filled with water and is now the Red Sea. The Arabian Peninsula forms a tilted plateau and is the largest peninsula in the world. The peninsula is geologically significant because it stores one of the largest deposits of natural gas and coal in the world.
The northward motion of the Arabia Plate results in a convergent plate boundary along its northern edge, as the Arabia Plate continues to push towards the Eurasia Plate. The tectonic collision results in folding, faulting, and continental uplifting. The convergence zone is the geologic force pushing up the Zagros Mountains and the Iranian and Anatolian Plateau higher and higher each year in a seismically active region. In 2017, a massive 7.3 earthquake occurred along the Zagros Fold, with tremors in both Iraq and Iran killing over 600 people and leaving thousands without a home. The tectonic convergence also helps explain the differential topography of Southwest Asia, which is more mountainous compared to North Africa. In the Levant, the eastern Mediterranean region of Southwest Asia, the Lebanon Mountains rise 10,000 feet (3000 meters) in elevation. Turkey is home to several mountain ranges, notably the Pontic Mountains, which form an arch at the northern edge of the country and the Taurus Mountains along Anatolia’s southern edge. Mountains in Southwest Asia run generally parallel to the plate boundaries and are created by compression along fault lines in the region.
North Africa lies on the northern portion of the Africa Plate, along a continuation of a convergent plate boundary located in the Mediterranean Sea. The Africa Plate and the Western end of the Eurasian plate are moving towards each other. The Atlas Mountains in North Africa run parallel to the Mediterranean plate boundary.
River Systems, Hydropolitics, and Desalinization
River Systems
We have established that SWANA is predominantly arid thus water is a precious commodity. The two major freshwater river systems in the region are the Nile (the world’s longest river) and the Tigris and Euphrates. These river systems have been the source of life and livelihood for thousands of years, evidence suggests these rivers were settled by the world’s earliest civilizations. Although the Nile is the world’s longest river, it is one of the smallest major rivers in water flow. As it flows north, it serves as a major water lifeline for SWANA countries like Egypt. The Tigris and Euphrates run primarily through Iraq and extend into Turkey and Syria. The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia (from the Greek, meaning ‘between two rivers’) settled around the Tigris and Euphrates, a hearth of cultural, agricultural, urban, and technological innovations. Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt all rely on the Nile River for water consumption and irrigation. Dense population centers are often near the river systems because of natural irrigation of crops and nutrient- rich soil.
The Nile and Tigris and Euphrates river systems in SWANA are examples of exotic rivers. An exotic river begins in a more humid area and transports water to a dry region. The Nile’s source is in the humid highlands of East Africa. To form the Nile River, two tributaries of the Nile, the Blue Nile (flows northward across the Sahara) and the White Nile in Khartoum, Sudan join together and empty into the Mediterranean. Along its course, the Nile flows through vast arid, and hot landscapes and experiences high evaporation with no added moisture. Similarly, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers begin in Turkey and flow south to Iraq and Syria where they are critical freshwater sources.
The Euphrates is a major river in Western Asia that flows through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. It is one of the longest rivers in the region, and it is an important source of water for irrigation, industry, and domestic use. The Euphrates rises in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, and it flows southeast through Syria and into Iraq, where it eventually joins the Tigris River to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which flows into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates passes through several major cities and agricultural areas, including the capital cities of Ankara and Baghdad, and it is an important transportation and trade route. The geography of the Euphrates is characterized by wide, fertile plains and rolling hills, with a hot, dry climate in much of the region. These exotic rivers are the life source for the people, animals, and vegetation of this region and tension and conflict over water access occur. Dam projects in southeastern Turkey, for example, have impacted access to Syria which is downstream of the dam.
Hydropolitics
Given the vitality of water for all civilizations, tensions and negotiations over water access are central to the political decisions of many countries in the SWANA region and everywhere in the world. The politics that impact access to water and water resources is referred to as hydropolitics. Arun P. Elhance, defines hydropolitics as “the systematic study of conflict and cooperation between states over water resources that transcend international borders". Sheik Ahmed Yamani, who was the oil minister of Saudi Arabia from 1962-1986 once commented that he wished they had discovered water and not oil. This statement makes it clear how essential water is even though oil has brought great wealth to the country. Saudi Arabia discovered oil in the 1930s and holds approximately 17.2% of the world’s oil reserves and is currently the largest exporter of petroleum in the world. Saudi Arabia, once a subsistence economy, is now the 18th largest economy in the world due in large part to its wealth in petroleum and natural gas. This wealth is mirrored by an acute scarcity for freshwater. From Sheik Yamani’s comments, we begin to understand the value of water and access to water. Water is necessary for all life on earth and there is no substance that can act as a substitute for it.
Water is a renewable resource in that it completes a cycle via evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Water is a vital resource that is essential for all life on Earth. It makes up a substantial portion of the Earth's surface, with about 70% of the planet covered in water. However, most of this water is saltwater, which is not suitable for drinking or irrigation. Only a small fraction of the Earth's water is freshwater, and much of this is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and underground aquifers. As a result, the availability of freshwater for human use can be a concern in some parts of the world.
Water availability can be affected by numerous factors, including population growth, climate change, and environmental degradation. In some areas, demand for water is outpacing the available supply, leading to water shortages and conflicts over access to water. Ensuring the sustainable management of water resources is critical for meeting the needs of human communities and protecting the environment.
People have done a lot to change how water is managed. We have made it harder for the Earth to store water because of the built environment (houses, roads, buildings), polluting water systems through industry, using too much water, and building dams on almost all of the world's major waterways. Former vice-president of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin said in 1995, "If the wars of this century (20th) were about oil, the wars of the next century will be about water." There are three main causes of water-related conflicts. First, people fight over water because of who owns it. Is it a public good or a private thing? Second, water privatization often leads to conflict. If water is limited, how do we decide who can use it and what it can be used for? Lastly, the diversion of water in mega-dam projects like those in Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon, which can be seen all over SWANA, has had terrible effects on people who are already poor and live in fragile landscapes.
As water sources are used more for human needs, put under more pressure, and become less viable because of human activity, it makes sense that water is becoming more of a regional and global issue. Mismanagement of water, damage to the environment, overconsumption, population growth, and global warming are all serious problems that are linked to each other. The term, hydro-hegemony, describes gaining control of a river basin through capture, integration, and containment via coercive means that exploit uneven power dynamics. Hydro-hegemony is central to understanding hydropolitics. Central to hydro-hegemony is the consolidation of power over the river basin often in the hands of the actor(s) who exert geographical and material control over the area. In other words, hydro (which means water) and hegemony (which means dominance) has to do with who has control over a river system. An example of conflict and cooperation over water is the relationship between Turkey, Iraq, and Syria with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Euphrates and the Tigris both begin in eastern Turkey and flow into Syria and Iraq. The Tigris Euphrates River system discharges into the Persian Gulf. Since the 1960s, the three co-riparian states (states that are situated on the banks of the rivers), have been both conflictual and cooperative.Currently, the three countries are in conflict over access to the water because each one has engaged in extensive dam building projects.
Water Mining and Desalinization
Humans often respond to scarcity with innovative methods, techniques, and strategies. Water mining is a method that requires collecting groundwater through a system of tunnels. Gravity flow brings this water to the surface. Known as a gravity system of water mining, the foothills of a mountain or a hill where there is runoff from rain or snowmelt is the perfect site to dig holes into the ground to transport water to the surface. This relatively reliable system enables year round irrigation. In different countries and regions, this system has different names, like qanat in Iran , flaj on the Arabian Peninsula, and foggaro in North Africa.
Desalinization or desalination is also an innovative albeit more controversial water mining technique. Desalination is the process of removing salt and other minerals from seawater, making it suitable for drinking and irrigation. There are several different methods for desalinating seawater, including reverse osmosis, distillation, and electrodialysis.
Reverse osmosis (RO) and distillation are the purification systems normally used in desalination. RO removes many dissolved and suspended materials from water. Reverse osmosis is a process in which seawater is forced through a membrane, which removes the salt and other minerals. Distillation involves boiling seawater to produce steam, which is then condensed back into freshwater. Electrodialysis uses electric fields to separate salt from seawater.
Desalination is often used in coastal areas where freshwater resources are limited or where the quality of available freshwater is poor. It can also be used to supplement traditional freshwater sources during times of drought or high demand. However, desalination can be expensive and energy-intensive, and it can also have environmental impacts, such as the production of brine, a highly salty byproduct of the desalination process.
There are over 21,000 desalination plants around the world. The largest ones are in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. The world’s largest is in Saudi Arabia, the Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant. Ras Al-power Khair's and desalination plant is on Saudi Arabia's eastern coast. The Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corporation runs it. As of January 2017, the world's largest hybrid water desalination plant began operations in April 2014. Israel currently has some of the most efficient desalination plants.
Desalination is currently expensive. The highest expense is energy. Desalination plants are also less accessible for places and people deep in the interior of a continent or at high elevations. The process is also controversial because of its potential impact on fragile ocean ecosystems.
Ecology and Land Management
Desertification is the process of transforming once arable land into a desert. The causes of desertification include deforestation, drought, and exploitative agricultural methods. Desertification, understood to be the degradation of land, is a natural process accelerated by exploitative agricultural practices by humans and global warming. Desertification impacts about ⅔ of the planet and has catalyzed the mass movement of people in search of land that will sustain them.
More than half of the ice-free terrain on planet earth has been altered by humans for a variety of purposes. On the image above, we can see that animal agriculture takes up 27% of the world's land area, or an area the size of North, Central, and South America (shown in red) (either grazing, meat and dairy production, or growing food for livestock). About 26% of the world's area is covered by forests. The largest biome on earth after the oceans is the Taiga, located in the northern latitudes. The green area in the accompanying map stands for the forested region, which is roughly the size of south of the Sahara Africa (excluding Libya), SWANA, and South Asia. The amount of land used to raise animals has had a big effect on the planet's soil fertility. Some experts say that one-third of the top soil has been lost. Industrial agricultural practices like tilling (turning the soil over, which upsets the delicate biology of the topsoil), using agrochemicals, and over-irrigating land are all major threats to the health and well-being of all life on Earth. Soil not only grows food, but it also stores carbon. This is what we call a "carbon sink." Studies have shown that soil and grasslands can store between 2.3 and 7.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
Like most places on our planet humans have decidedly transformed the natural environment, SWANA is no different. Biodiversity has dramatically decreased as human populations have increased. Looking at a map of SWANA’s plant and animal biodiversity is misleading. In recent history there were lush forests throughout Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Lebanon. The modification of the natural environment by human beings including overgrazing and deforestation have altered these forests to the point of extinction. There are currently only a few small areas of Turkey and Syria where forests remain. Lebanon is holding on to the last of its famous cedar trees, a national symbol, which now only grow in high altitudes. Iran has deciduous forests and there are forests in Morocco and Algeria that are mainly used as timber. Homo sapiens have occupied this region of the world for millennia and reshaped the range or the existence of the fauna that once lived there. Large mammals like leopards, cheetahs, and lions once lived in the region. Instead, now there are domesticated camels, donkeys, and buffalo as well as bears, boars, and wolves.
References:
Elhance, A.P. (1999) Hydropolitics in the Third World: Conflict and Cooperation in International River Basins. US Institute of Peace Press.
Serageldin, I. (2009). Water wars? A talk with Ismail Serageldin. World Policy Journal, 26(4), 25-31.
Zeitoun, Mark & Warner, Jeroen. (2006). Hydro-Hegemony- a Framework for Analysis of Trans-Boundary Water Conflicts. Water Policy 8(5).