A huge reservoir under the sands of the Sahara: why Africans do not use the gift of nature

Where today the endless sands of the Sahara stretch, 6,000 years ago there was fertile land: trees grew, the lakes were regularly filled with rainwater, the tribes developed the land and grazing their cattle in meadows with succulent grass. In this largest and hottest desert, a huge natural reservoir of fresh water was accidentally discovered. It would seem that such a find will save the inhabitants of Africa from an acute shortage of drinking water, but no. Why don't Africans use the gift of nature?

1. Research and results

Scientists have done a lot of research on why a huge flowering area has become a desert / Photo: bugaga.ru

Scientists have done a lot of research on why a huge flowering area became a desert. A climate model was created, a thorough analysis of dust was carried out, samples of marine sediments were taken off the coast of West Africa. The results showed that in fact, about six to eleven thousand years ago, the climate in North Africa was much warmer, just like everywhere else on the planet.

But due to the fact that the angle of inclination of the earth's axis, which was called the Mezocco wobble, was changed, a cooling set in very sharply in the northern latitudes. This, in turn, caused the amount of precipitation to decrease significantly. The result was a drought that lasted for thousands of years. Vegetation began to disappear, and people, in order to survive, simply left the area in search of more comfortable living conditions.

2. Situation today

In our time, the Sahara is the largest desert on the planet, covering an area of ​​​​about thirty percent of African land. Of course, there are precipitations here, but they are too few. But in 1953 while searching for oil, geologists from the UK discovered an interesting and unusual find for this area. Under a layer of sand, about five hundred meters deep, they accidentally discovered water. According to scientists, its volume is 150,000 cubic meters. This would be enough to provide about half of the entire continent with fresh water.

This reservoir was named the Nubian aquifer. According to the results of the research, it became clear that the water was collected in it for thousands of years. This is a real gift from nature itself, especially when you consider that the population of Africa is experiencing an acute shortage of water.

In this regard, Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, in 1984 decided to take the opportunity. He began work on a project to extract water and supply it from the southern part of the territory to the northern regions of Libya. The project has become unique. Over time, they began to speak of him as the eighth wonder of the world.

Large-scale work was launched to build a huge pipeline. In general, communications located in the underground part, according to the requirements, were supposed to be up to four thousand kilometers. About 1,300 wells were drilled. Their depth reached five hundred meters. Sections of the pipeline, the diameter of which was up to four meters, were brought to the places of work being carried out on trucks. And there were thousands of such sections. This project was recognized as the largest of all that humanity has ever implemented.

The work gave a positive result. To the Libyan capital Tripoli and a number of other large cities in 1996. water began to flow constantly. After some time, fields appeared in the desert, agriculture began to develop. In 2011 water traffic (meaning daily) increased to 6,500,000 cubic meters. Gaddafi spent 33 billion dollars on construction work, and all these investments have fully justified themselves. According to experts, these water reserves are worth fifteen trillion dollars.

But most likely, the heyday of one of the African countries did not coincide with the plans of the United States. As a result, in Libya in 2011 there was a civil war. Part of the pipeline was destroyed. As a result, America took control of it. According to analysts, the war went directly for water, and they were not mistaken in this assumption. Water prices are predicted to be higher than gasoline prices for several years. In some regions, the forecasts have already come true.

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There is no life without water, which is why it is the most demanded and valuable resource on our planet. Its flow in Libya was blocked and ordinary people are again experiencing an acute shortage. In the UAE, they went a different way - they learned to extract water not from the bowels of the earth, but from the sky. This technology is still a novelty, but its testing has already been carried out and quite successfully.

In continuation of the topic, read what 7 mysteries of the Sahara desert, scientists were able to solve only recently.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/140921/60539/

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