NSC: People and Their Environment

NSC: PEOPLE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

WATER: A SCARCE COMMODITY Only about 1% of the Earth’s water is readily

available for drinking. 97% - Salt Water 2% - Frozen Water

Consequently over 1 Billion people cannot obtain clean drinking water on a day-to-day basis. This strain is predicted to worsen as the world

population continues to grow.

WATER: RESOURCES Most of the freshwater in the NSC comes

from rivers and aquifers. The regions only major rivers are:

Nile Tigris Euphrates Jordan Amu Darya Syr Darya

These rivers only flow through a relatively small number of countries within the NSC.

Most countries use smaller rivers for their water sources.

WATER: OTHER SOURCES Desalination – the processes that remove

some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water. Desalination has allowed for countries without a

significant fresh water source (but with access to a salt water source) to produce drinkable water.

The “Great Man-Made River” An ambitious multi-billion dollar project using

pipelines to carry water from large aquifers beneath the Sahara to farms near the Mediterranean.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: ASWAN HIGH DAM Aswan High Dam Facts:

Finished in 1970 600 Miles South of Cairo Irrigates around 3 million acres of land Supplies nearly 50% of Egypt’s electrical power

Aswan’s Negative Impact: Stopped a process by the annual Nile floods

would deposit fertile soul and wash away salt along the Nile floodplain Now farmers must buy expensive fertilizer

Since the finishing of the dam parasite related deaths and diseases around the dam and down river have increased

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS: PERSIAN GULF WAR During the war Iraqi troops retreating from

Kuwait set fire to more than 700 oil wells This created huge black clouds of smoke that

polluted the Area Iraqi troops also dumped about 250 million

gallons of oil in the Persian Gulf Killed many fish and other aquatic creatures

along the Persian Gulf coastline

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: KAZAKHSTAN Kazakhstan was once home to Soviet nuclear

bases, and weapons testing. In 1989 it was discovered that this weapons

testing had caused radiation leaks The Soviet Union also used Kazakhstan as a

site for heavy industry. These industrial plants polluted the air with toxic

chemicals This pollution has been linked to high level of infant

mortality in the country.

NUCLEAR TESTING SITE IN KAZAKHSTAN

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS: 3 TROUBLED SEAS Caspian Sea

Pollution primarily coming from near the Elburz Mountains of Iran This pollution mixed with overfishing threaten the fish, an

important export in the area. Dead Sea

Sea levels have dropped more than 262 feet over the past 40 years due to water diversion (for irrigation and hydroelectricity)

Aral Sea Has seen severe dropped in water, like the Dead Sea. It has negatively effected the areas fishing

production, and has created dust storms which spread disease in the area.

ARAL SEA