Tuareg (ethnic group)
Tuareg
are a large ethnic group that inhabits a large area of Western Sahara and the north-central Sahel desert. Their population
worldwide is 1.2 million people. For my case study, I will concentrate mostly on
the Tuareg in Niger. There is about 700,000 Tuareg living in Niger currently.
Their main religion is Islam.
Sahara
desert is the largest hot desert in the world, covering about 3.3 million of
square miles. Extreme dryness is one of the Sahara's main characteristics. The
average annual rainfall is about 5 inches (130 mm). Daytime temperatures are among
the hottest in the world, it averages about 33-35 degrees Celsius. At night,
the temperatures are freezing cold. This is because the air in the region is
dry and it has few clouds therefore temperatures drop quickly after sunset.
Precipitation is rare in this area. Vegetation in Sahara is very sparse and
scattered. Most area has no plant life kind of any.
There
are many causes of aridity in Sahara desert. One of the reasons is that many of
the deserts including the Sahara are located at atmospheric high pressure
zones. These high pressure zones give rise to
high temperatures because it is close to the equator and the weather pattern of
the wind. Cold air descends in high pressure zones, becoming warm as it reaches
the ground. Secondly,
it is continentality. Most water is evaporates from the sea and then released
on the land. Land closer to the sea received most of its moisture. As the air
move inland, its moisture drops as well as precipitations. Thirdly, rainshadow effect also plays a big
role in aridity. In the case of the Sahara desert, it was not caused by
rainshadow effect.
Due
to the extreme environment in Sahara desert, the Tuareg had to change their
living style to adapt their lives to the desert. In desert, both men and women
dressed loosely so that doesn’t suffer heat. Apart from that, they also wear
veils to cover their face. They
frequently moved around the Sahara desert on camels, because of the scarce
resources such as grassland for their herds.
Thirdly, most of them live in tents made out of animal skin.
The main form of
weathering in the Sahara desert is exfoliation, abrasion and water erosion. Exfoliation
is when rocks surfaces get hot during daytime. As it gets hot, the rocks expand. At night
when the temperature drop, the rocks contract. When this process repeats itself
over and over again, the surface layer of the rock experience stress therefore
it causes the skin layer of the rock to peel off. Abrasion is mainly through
the wind moving sand particles over each other and blowing sand grain against
rocks. Although water erosion is part of weathering, it doesn’t often occur in
the Sahara desert because of lack of water and vegetation. Flash floods doesn’t
occur often in the Sahara but during august, where the rain usually fall,
Sahara desert experience flash flood which transport water to other part of the
desert.
Currently in the Sahara, there are not many agriculture opportunities, but
as you move to west Sahara, there is evidence of farmers farming crop there. It
is possible to farm there because the area is close to the sea. Vegetation can
be found at that part of area as it received most of the moisture from the sea.
The most degradation is found where there is water. Here, habitats may be
heavily altered by human activities. Previously existing tree cover has often
been removed for fuel and fodder by nomadic pastoralists and traders.
There is a potential for mineral extraction. The French state owned company has been mining for uranium in Niger for Europe’s power needs. To keep the mining working, 2 cities have been created in the desert. Those cities have a population of 80,000 people. Mining uranium has made well water highly radioactive and precious fossil groundwater is used in the uranium ore processing plant. The region's nomads are finding fewer and fewer pastures for their cattle, and people are affected by fatal illnesses. One challenge is that in Niger, the Tuareg used violence in an attempt to get their share of uranium revenues. There is also a tourism possibility in Niger. Many tourist come to the country to visit the sahara desert therefore the Tuareg can make a profits out of it by transporting tourist on camels to the desert. Tuareg handicrafts and handmade jewelry also attract tourist to the area.
A Tuareg settlement in Sahara does not lead to an unsustainable future
because most of them still live traditionally for example in leather tent.
Moreover, when the Tuareg travels around, they used camels mostly which does
not released CO2 to the atmosphere. However, their farming method could lead to
unsustainable future. Since the Tuareg doesn’t have the appropriate tools and
knowledge to farm properly, this could lead to desertification and the Sahara
desert keep expanding itself. In
addition to this, they moved around to keep their herds fed, therefore this
also contribute desertification where the soil quantity and quality is reduced.
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