CHAPTER 20 REVIEW: LIFE IN

THE SAHARA AND THE SAHEL:

ADAPTING TO A DESERT REGION

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/j9lipson/chapter-20-review
The Geographic Setting

 Sahara covers about 3.5 million square miles

 Bordered by the Red Sea on the east and the
Atlantic Ocean on the west
 Atlas Mountains in the north
 Merges with the semiarid Sahel
 Sahara and Sahel cover all or parts of 15
countries
The Desert Environment
 The Harsh Desert Climate
 Temperatures
can vary
greatly: Night
time below
freezing and
daytime over
100⁰F.
 Sandstorms
Adaptations to Desert Life

 The Wandering Tuareg

 “Blue Men of the
Desert”
 Nomads
 Trading meat, cheese,
and milk for grain, fruit,
vegetables, water
 Camel Caravans
 Traveling by the stars at
night
Technology Makes Life Easier

 Satellite phones
 Creation of oases
 Better transportation
 Trucks vs. camels
 Planes between oases
The Sahel Environment

 Includes portions of:

 Niger
 Gambia
 Senegal
 Mauritania
 Mali
 Burkina Faso
 Nigeria
 Chad
 Sudan
Adaptation to Life in the
Sahel
 Most people are farmers or herders
 Plant crops : grains like millet and sorghum
 Shifting agriculture: Plant some crops on a
plot of land for a year or two, then planted a
different field.
 Herders use a similar system to feed the animals
A Landscape Threatened by
Drought and Desertification
Human Causes of
Desertification
 Cash crops
 Overgrazing of cattle
 Deforestation: Cutting
down trees for various
uses.
 Erosion: The process of
wearing down a piece
of land.
 Global Warming
Global Connections

 What should be done

about desertification
and resulting famine of
the Sahel?