Author: Irene

Case Study: The Sahel

Location and Background

South of the Sahara Desert and extends across most of Africa
A narrow belt of semi—arid land
Little rainfall a year, and is unreliable reliable

Is a mixture of the hot desert and the tropical continental climate

Map

Impacts

Several lengthy droughts
Less grazing land available
Less crops and animals
No water (drinking) available
As there is a high density population, more people are dying as there is less to split between them all

Human Causes

Physical Causes

Population growth—farmers are forced to grow the same crops year after year on bad soil because there are so many people to feed. This has led to overcultivation.
Too many animals in one area, meaning the grass was all eaten and vegetation was list, turning the land into a desert. Water was very limited, or was contaminated by the animals

A low amount of water supply, due to the location
Global warming is thought to be a cause, as higher temperatures are rising, meaning evapotranspiration (the warmer the air the more vapour it can hold) reduced condensation. This limited the amount of rainfall. This could be put into the human causes, depends how you look at it.

Management

Plant trees and shrubs to create a “green belt” along southern fringe, preventing the amount of soil erosion occurring.
Terracing so that the bunds capture any soil or moisture, reducing the amount of soil erosion happening
Using satellites to take photographs to see whether or not the Sahel is going to continue