Resources in Hot Arid Environments (SL IB Geography)

• The harsh, hot, and arid environment pose a range of challenges for any development
• Water availability
  • The lack of readily available water increases costs and can deter people from moving to areas for work
  • However, as the population increases, the demand for water also increases, but not all aquifers are usable
    • Some aquifers are hyper-saline (they are many times saltier than seawater)
    • Some become polluted by mining processes, such as the use of arsenic in gold extraction
  • Many arid regions have deep-level aquifers and where pit mining occurs, water flows into the pit from the aquifer
    • The Pilbara region of Australia lies on a water-bearing aquifer that is just 100 to 250 metres below surface
    • Many commercial mining operations in the region start below the water table and have to pump the water out of the pit daily
    • Water is pumped to a holding tank and then used to process the 'ores' or sprayed on roads to dampen dust
• Extreme temperatures: which can reach 50 ^°C 
  • This leads to high levels of evaporation and water shortages
  • It makes working very difficult and tiring
• Mineral extraction
  • The abundant stores of natural resources can lead to political tensions over contested land or borders
    • Western Sahara has rich phosphate reserves, but there has been a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Sahrawi people 
  • Abandoned pits can flood, creating artificial lakes, although if polluted or hyper-saline, they have no economic or recreational value
  • Open-cut mining creates unstable slopes and are environmentally damaging as it exposes previously-covered toxic or dangerous materials
    • Uranium is open-mined in the Sahel Desert (in Niger), where the rock is crushed before being dumped for chemical leaching 
    • There are enough harmful substances and radon emissions in the mining tailings to damage the local ecosystem for many generations
  • Underground mines can collapse and cause land subsidence
• Accessibility
  • There is a lack of roads due to low population
  • Pipelines, roads and railways need to be built to withstand the high temperatures
  • Sand often covers the roads
  • Most of the desert areas are inaccessible and are only accessed by flying into the region

Development opportunities in the Thar Desert

Location of the Thar Desert

Opportunities

• Subsistence farming
  • In depressions between the sand dunes, any precipitation collects; grasses grow and animals can graze
  • Goats provide milk and meat for the communities
• Commercial farming
  • The construction of the Indira Gandhi canal allows irrigation
  • This enables crops such as wheat and cotton to be grown for sale on a commercial scale
• Tourism 
  • Tourists are attracted to seeing the different species found in the deserts on desert safaris 
  • The desert is a hub for migrating birds, which many tourists visit to see
  • There has been an increase in ecotourism 
• Mineral Extraction
  • The extraction of gypsum, limestone, feldspar, kaolin and phosphorus all takes place within the Thar Desert
• Energy 
  • The Jaisalmer Wind Park is the world's fourth-largest wind farm
  • Coal extraction: It is estimated there are reserves of 175 billion tonnes of coal
  • Oil and gas: Large reserves of oil and gas have been found under the Thar Desert
  • The Bhadia Solar Park covers more than 22 square miles and is one of the world's largest

Challenges

• Extreme temperatures
  • In the hottest months of May and June, temperatures often reach 50 °C.
  • Working in the high temperatures for miners, farmers, etc... is extremely challenging
• Water supply
  • Precipitation in the Thar desert is very low (120–240 mm)
  • Evaporation rates are high
  • Natural ponds: called tobas, provide people with water in remote areas
  • In some areas, over-irrigation has led to salinisation when the water evaporates, leaving the salt behind
  • The 650-kilometre Indira Gandhi Canal provides water for drinking and irrigation
• Inaccessibility
  • The Thar Desert is over 230,000 km²
  • The road network across the vast area is limited
  • On the roads that do exist, tarmac may melt due to the high temperatures
  • Roads quickly become covered in sand
  • City of Jaisalmer has become a honeypot tourist site because access to other areas is so expensive and difficult