LIFE IN THE SAHARA DESERTMr. Herneisen| 2008-09| Hood River Valley High School

VOCABULARY

• Desertification– Process of land becoming more and more dry

• Drought– Unusually long period of little or no rain

• Marginal Land– Land not well suited for growing crops

• Pastoral Nomad– Group of herders who move their animals from place

to place in search of pasture and water

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING• World’s largest desert

– Receives less than 5 inches of rain per year

– Highest temperature recorded: 136 degrees (1922)

• Sahel– “Edge” or border of the desert

– Receives more rain than desert

– Marginal land, with mostly pastoral nomads living there

MORE THAN JUST SAND

• Three Major Landforms– Ergs

• Seas of sand dunes

– Regs• Gravel covered plains

– Hammadas• High, rock covered plains

ADAPTING TO THE DESERT• Tuareg people

– Nomadic herders, living in small groups

– Use camels/donkeys to move from place to place

– Live off animals and trading

• Using Technology– Lightweight plastic containers– Satellite phones– Drilling machines for water– Bush planes for travel– Trucks to haul heavy loads

THE OASIS ENVIRONMENT• Springs that bubble out of the ground• Some are man made• 90 large oases in the Sahara• Can supply water for a whole village• Date Palm trees used for food, shelter,

tools.

THE SAHEL ENVIRONMENT• “Desertification” occurring due to little

rainfall and human causes:– Long term droughts– Over farming and grazing of the land– Deforestation causing erosion

• Land is blowing away

– Major threat to marginal lands