The Water Crisis in the Middle East
By: Jonah and Hany
Problems in the Middle East
The Middle East is currently going through a process called desertification. This means that the land there is becoming a desert due to misuse of water, poor management of the available water, and the lack of water to begin with. This is happening because of unsustainable agricultural practices and overgrazing. Since agriculture uses 85% of water, available water becomes scarce. Also, desalination plants will not work because they remove essential minerals like calcium and add pollutants to the region's climate. Then, the leftover salt is dumped back into the ocean, which is hurting the ocean's climate. As you can see below, it has become a struggle to find clean water, and enough of it for everybody.
Statistics
- The population of the countries in the Middle East combined is 91,613,449
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ranked highest in water consumption per capita
- UAE has about 50 years before water resources are depleted
Possible Solutions
Since the groundwater resources are unlikely to be replenished due to lack of rain, a possible solution could be to water the plants at night so the existing water will not be evaporated. Also, a recent study said that non- sewage waste could be safely used for agriculture, so that could be another solution.
To sum up, the Middle East is suffering from the water crisis. Water resources are continuing to disappear and they need a solution before the process of desertification is complete.