Geography and Environment
Olivia Macklin
World History, Hjelmgren
5-7-09, Period 7
Somalia: Geography and Environment
Somalia, formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is located in the Horn of Africa. It is in Eastern Africa bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It has an area of 637,657 sq km and a coastline of 3025 km. Somali climate is mostly desert but from May to October irregular rainfall occurs causing the climate to be hot and humid. However, during the dry season, Somalia’s flat plateau turns into a perfect place for drought and natural deforestation. With such an eclectic array of weather patterns, Somalia’s natural hazards list is quite long. Some of these hazards include floods during the rainy season which slowly bring back the greenery lost during the droughts of the desert season.
The Somali environment currently has many issues that are affecting the country today. One of their largest and most thought of issues is deforestation. Besides natural deforestation, we have seen many cases of unnatural deforestation as well. There are several reasons for doing so: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and are used by humans while cleared land is used as pasture, plantations of commodities and human settlement. Between 1990 and 2000, Somalia lost an average of 76,700 hectares of forest per year. This amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 0.93%. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change increased by 10.4% to 1.02%. In total, between 1990 and 2005, Somalia lost 13.9% of its forest cover. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion for the 1990-2005 intervals, Somalia lost 13.9% of its forest and woodland habitat. Secondly, water contamination has snowballed into a huge epidemic in Somalia with over 11 deaths due to the problem since March 22, 2009. The drinking water, which has been exposed to animal feces, can only be cleaned by the process of boiling it but the people do not have the resources to boil all of their water. In which case, the water contamination will continue to be a problem until a solution is found that is accessible to all Somali people.
Before the 1980’s, Somalia boasted several national parks with cheetahs,
leopards, lions, hyenas and antelopes, attracting hundreds of tourists. Today, one would be lucky to spot a solitary lion in one of the former parks. Somaliland is still home to more than 177 species of mammals and 727 species of birds. To name all of them would surely be a challenge but these numbers are slowly shrinking sue to the natural hazards that blanket the country. Animals that once thrived off of the wet seasons are now forced up into the mountains during the droughts or due to the contaminated waters. The animal’s sense when they are in danger so they run from their only source of food and water leaving them starving. Connecting to deforestation, when the plant life is cut down, the herbivores are also left without a source of food which is killing off more and more species.
The unique features of Somali geography impact the development of society in the same way it has killed off its human and animal populations. There are fewer and fewer natural resources due to deforestation and drought. This means there are lesser areas to develop communities making Somalia a truly undesirable place to live.
Somali geography has slowly become worse with time. The forests have shrunk to microscopic bits of greenery and the water is filled with feces and bacteria. Both of these problems cannot be fixed so easily and the Somali people are helpless when it comes to bandaging up the damage. They are in desperate need of cleaner, healthier resources or Somalia will turn into unoccupied land.
World History, Hjelmgren
5-7-09, Period 7
Somalia: Geography and Environment
Somalia, formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is located in the Horn of Africa. It is in Eastern Africa bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It has an area of 637,657 sq km and a coastline of 3025 km. Somali climate is mostly desert but from May to October irregular rainfall occurs causing the climate to be hot and humid. However, during the dry season, Somalia’s flat plateau turns into a perfect place for drought and natural deforestation. With such an eclectic array of weather patterns, Somalia’s natural hazards list is quite long. Some of these hazards include floods during the rainy season which slowly bring back the greenery lost during the droughts of the desert season.
The Somali environment currently has many issues that are affecting the country today. One of their largest and most thought of issues is deforestation. Besides natural deforestation, we have seen many cases of unnatural deforestation as well. There are several reasons for doing so: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and are used by humans while cleared land is used as pasture, plantations of commodities and human settlement. Between 1990 and 2000, Somalia lost an average of 76,700 hectares of forest per year. This amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 0.93%. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change increased by 10.4% to 1.02%. In total, between 1990 and 2005, Somalia lost 13.9% of its forest cover. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion for the 1990-2005 intervals, Somalia lost 13.9% of its forest and woodland habitat. Secondly, water contamination has snowballed into a huge epidemic in Somalia with over 11 deaths due to the problem since March 22, 2009. The drinking water, which has been exposed to animal feces, can only be cleaned by the process of boiling it but the people do not have the resources to boil all of their water. In which case, the water contamination will continue to be a problem until a solution is found that is accessible to all Somali people.
Before the 1980’s, Somalia boasted several national parks with cheetahs,
leopards, lions, hyenas and antelopes, attracting hundreds of tourists. Today, one would be lucky to spot a solitary lion in one of the former parks. Somaliland is still home to more than 177 species of mammals and 727 species of birds. To name all of them would surely be a challenge but these numbers are slowly shrinking sue to the natural hazards that blanket the country. Animals that once thrived off of the wet seasons are now forced up into the mountains during the droughts or due to the contaminated waters. The animal’s sense when they are in danger so they run from their only source of food and water leaving them starving. Connecting to deforestation, when the plant life is cut down, the herbivores are also left without a source of food which is killing off more and more species.
The unique features of Somali geography impact the development of society in the same way it has killed off its human and animal populations. There are fewer and fewer natural resources due to deforestation and drought. This means there are lesser areas to develop communities making Somalia a truly undesirable place to live.
Somali geography has slowly become worse with time. The forests have shrunk to microscopic bits of greenery and the water is filled with feces and bacteria. Both of these problems cannot be fixed so easily and the Somali people are helpless when it comes to bandaging up the damage. They are in desperate need of cleaner, healthier resources or Somalia will turn into unoccupied land.
