World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - (Page 22) of how, in response to a changing climate, human mismanagement and overuse of land and water is turning this fragile area into a virtual desert with near-famine conditions. Change in this region is a constant, and for centuries the people who made their homes here learned to live with that. They planted and harvested crops in accordance with the seasonal extremes: regular, even torrential rains from May to October, and dry, dusty weather from November to April. The basin lands flooded regularly, which was a boon to subsistence farmers who planted in its rich soils. Even the lake itself, because it is extremely shallow, fluctuated dramatically throughout history. According to the Global International Waters Assessment, a recent study of the region published by a branch of the United Nations, over time the lake changed from massive to tiny and back again. Those who fished its waters for a living followed its changing shoreline and shifting rivers. But recently, in addition to these rough, regular cycles, a more troubling change is affecting the area. The Sahel region, which runs through the lake basin to the north (just below the Sahara Desert), has been gradually drying out for some 5,000 years. And over the last 30 years, the region experienced what the U.N. water report calls “the most substantial and sustained decline of rainfall measured anywhere in the world.” The trend is linked, in part, to rising ocean temperatures and thus, concludes the U.N. report, to global warming. Women and children in Barza must carry water from wells and parched riverbeds every day. As sources dry up, villagers have to go farther or dig deeper to find drinking water. www.heifer.org http://www.heifer.org
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Digging Up the Past Not a Drop to Drink Facing the Ogres of Progress Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit World Ark Market Calendar First Person World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 (Page Cover1) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 (Page Cover2) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Contents (Page 1) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Letters (Page 2) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Letters (Page 3) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - For the Record (Page 4) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - For the Record (Page 5) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - The Good Life (Page 6) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - The Good Life (Page 7) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Asked and Answered (Page 8) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Asked and Answered (Page 9) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 10) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 11) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 12) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 13) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 14) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 15) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 16) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Digging Up the Past (Page 17) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 18) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 19) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 20) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 21) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 22) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 23) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 24) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 25) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 26) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 27) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 28) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 29) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 30) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Not a Drop to Drink (Page 31) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Facing the Ogres of Progress (Page 32) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Facing the Ogres of Progress (Page 33) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Facing the Ogres of Progress (Page 34) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Facing the Ogres of Progress (Page 35) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Facing the Ogres of Progress (Page 36) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Facing the Ogres of Progress (Page 37) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Mixed Media (Page 38) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Mixed Media (Page 39) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 40) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 41) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Heifer Spirit (Page 42) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Heifer Spirit (Page 43) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Heifer Spirit (Page 44) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Market (Page 45) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Market (Page 46) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Market (Page 47) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Market (Page 48) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - World Ark Market (Page 49) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Calendar (Page 50) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - Calendar (Page 51) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - First Person (Page 52) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - First Person (Page Cover3) World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - First Person (Page Cover4)
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