The Arab League held a conference last Thursday addressing the issue of desertification. This issue has been on the table since the 1970’s when the Middle East ran out of water and was forced to import water in exchange for other goods. Desertification is the transformation of productive farm and vegetative lands into arid lands that do not support any vegetation or life due to a scarcity of water. This process takes place because of global warming, natural and human action. Especially highway and railroad building and factory production. These activities harm the natural ecosystem of certain areas. The trend in the middle east and elsewhere has been toward more desertification.
There are certain remedies that are used to combat desertification:
-irrigation of dry areas
-recycling sewage water and treating it
-harvesting the sun in leu of other methods of electricity
-planting trees and other vegetation that do well in a dry environment and prevent further soil erosion by enriching the soil
The fact is that desertification is without borders so all countries in the region must cooperate in order to contain the threat.