NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER DISTRIBUTION IN SOUTHWEST ASIA (MIDDLE EAST) 7 th Grade Social Studies Ms. Turner

Natural Resources A natural resource is any useful material found in the environment. Natural resources can be in the form of raw materials (a resource or material that is still in its natural state; example: crude oil). There are many different types of resources: Renewable Resource – A resource that the environment continues to supply or replace (example: trees, water). Nonrenewable Resource – A resource that cannot be replaced once it is used (example: fossil fuels, minerals such as iron, copper, and gold).

Fossil Fuels One of the important types of nonrenewable resources found in Southwest Asia are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are any one of several nonrenewable resources created from the remains of plants and animals. Some of the major fossil fuels are: Oil Coal Natural Gas Once fossil fuels are used up, they are gone for good!

Amounts and Uses of Resources Consumption is the act of consuming, or using up goods and services. As the population of an area increases, the amount of goods consumed also increases. This can lead to numerous issues: Production – More materials have to be produced (made or refined; example: using oil to create gasoline). Abundance or Scarcity – As materials are used up, they may become more scarce (not enough of something). If there is an abundance of the materials (a lot of something) this is less of an immediate issue, but still could be an issue in the future.

Water Distribution One natural resource that is scarce in Southwest Asia (Middle East) is fresh water. The areas around fresh water sources, such as rivers, usually are densely populated ( a lot of people living close together in that area). People living in areas without access to enough fresh water have to find other ways to get water. One way, used by Saudi Arabia for example, is desalinization (process of removing salt from seawater for drinking), but this process is VERY expensive. Historically, many people in Southwest Asia (ME) have lived as desert nomads, or Bedouins, constantly moving to find water and other resources to survive. This lifestyle is slowly disappearing as Southwest Asia (ME) continues to become more modern. Because there is an unequal distribution of water in Southwest Asia (ME) this can lead to conflicts.

Water Distribution and Conflict If the people in Turkey, where the Euphrates river begins build a dam to divert water from the river to their farms so that they can feed their animals and grow their crops, it means less water will flow down the river into Iraq. Since Iraq is receiving LESS water now because of the dam, their crops are dying and they have a shortage of drinking water. The people in Iraq are now thirsty and worried about dying of starvation because their crops do not have enough water to grow. What to do?

Population and Water Distribution – Where do most people live?

Population Distribution Because most of the people in Southwest Asia (ME) live near water (rivers for fresh water or other waterways for shipping) these areas tend to be very crowded (have a high population density). This overpopulation (population has outgrown an area’s resources) leads to a scarcity of supplies.

Water Scarcity/Population/Survival So many people in Southwest Asia (ME) live close to rivers that there is a scarcity of water. Farmers diverting the river for irrigation (process of bringing water to land to assist in farming) leads to less water available to other people. As a result, since many of the rivers have less water in them, the silt (small particles of rich soil carried by flooding rivers) which naturally fertilized the fields when flooding occurred never reaches the soil. Without the flooding and silt, many fields are becoming unable to produce crops which means the people can no longer grow food.