1. Middle East – Human-Environment interaction
Population Distribution & Environmental Issues
Middle East – Human-Environment interaction

2. Words to know
Desalination
Water Pollution
Desertification

3. Major Environmental Issues
Water Supply
Very limited in Middle East
Many countries must use desalination to get drinking water
Process of removing salt from salt water to make it okay for drinking and farming
Few rivers in the area
Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan and Nile rivers
Used for drinking water and generate power
If you don’t have a river in your region, you must find alternate methods for drinking water and power.

6. Major Environmental Issues
Rights to Water Supply
Disputes over rights to water supply and other natural resources in the region
Water rights
Agreements about how countries can use the water in a region.

7. Major Environmental Issues
Israel, Jordan and Palestinians
Rely on the same scarce water supply on the West Bank
Israel has the most power – so they have the ability to claim more water.
What happens if they build a dam?
Recycle the water so many people have access to water without a major shortage

8. Major Environmental issues
Water Pollution
Port cities
Ports make it easier to ship things
Water is often polluted by the shipping industry
Oil is the main export
Oil spills are one of the main causes for water pollution in the Persian Gulf

9. Summarizing Strategy – Think, Pair, Share
How does a limited supply of water affect how nations treat each other?
Does the Middle East suffer from a small amount of water supply, unequal distribution of water, or both? Why???
How has water rights caused conflict in the Middle East?

10. Desertification
The process of land turning to desert

11. According to recent studies
the desert is making a comeback in the Middle East, with fertile lands turning into barren wastes that could further destabilize the area, according to a recent AFP report

12. Oil Distribution – World

13. Oil Distribution – Middle East

14. Oil Distribution

15. Oil Distribution World’s largest source of oil - Persian Gulf
Pollution issues – air and water
Damage to refineries during war
Not repairing damages
Pollution was a strategy used during war
Dumped oil into Persian Gulf
Burned oil wells to prevent USA from gaining control
Lack of water supply makes the pollution issue even bigger.

16. Oil Distribution
How does oil distribution impact the development of countries with and without oil?
Standard of Living - GDP
Literacy Rate

17. Standard of Living – Average Income

18. Literacy Rate

19. Summarizing Activity – Think-Pair-Share
If a country does not have oil fields, what type of economy do they have?
If a country is poor, what type of literacy rate do they have? Why???

20. Population Distribution
How do rivers and deserts impact where people live, where they work and how they travel?
People settle around the limited fresh water supply.
Civilizations concentrate around fertile soil.
People aren’t going to settle in a hot desert Why?
Crops are grown within these areas.
Subsistence Farming – Grow enough only for their families.
Most people within the Middle East are nomads (wander) within the desert regions.

21. Population Distribution

22. Natural Resources Most economies were once based on farming
Discovery oil – main source of income
Governments with large oil deposits stopped investing in other parts of their economies.
Countries without oil are poorer.

23. Land Use and Resources

24. Transportation
How do deserts and rivers impact transportation in the Middle East?
Rivers provide transportation routes
Remember There are few rivers in the region.
Deserts and mountains are transportation barriers
Difficult to produce and transport goods.

25. Summarizing activity – Think-Pair-Share
How has the development of the oil industry in the Middle East impacted other industries within those countries?