Unit 5: Environmental Issues in Africa

What is one of the major problems facing those who depend on the Nile River for their water?

• The Nile River no longer has any fish.
• The Nile is too shallow to be used for transportation.
• The river always dries up during the summer months.
• The water is contaminated with human and industrial waste.

How did the Aswan High Dam change Egyptian farming?

• The Dam washed more silt down the river.
• The Dam has allowed year-round irrigation.
• The Dam has increased the annual flooding of the Nile River.
• The Dam created many jobs in the construction industry.

What is silt?

• a type of chemical fertilizer
• a chemical used to produce electricity
• industrial pollution found in the Nile River
• rich topsoil carried from one location to another by floodwaters

Continued use of chemical fertilizer causes what to build up in soil?

• silt
• salt
• animal waste
• rocks and gravel

Which BEST describes a major use of the Niger River?

• little used because it is too shallow
• source of much hydroelectric power
• used for transportation and agriculture
• used for irrigation projects in the Sahara Desert

Which BEST describes a major use of the Congo River?

• irrigation of farmland
• supplying water to Egypt
• water only for rainforest animals
• transportation of goods and people from the interior of Africa to the Indian Ocean

What do people believe might lead to "water wars" in Africa in the future?

• demands to reroute water to the deserts
• competition among countries that share a river system
• demands to reroute rivers to supply water to the rainforests
• UN decrees telling African nations how to share water

Why do some governments ignore industrial pollution of major rivers and waterways?

• They want the industries to be profitable.
• The people of most countries do not care about pollution.
• Industries always have plans in place to clean up polluting wastes.
• Most government officials do not recognize pollution as a problem.

What destroyed the grassland and forests that were once found in the Sahel?

• years of heavy flooding
• the development of factories
• continuous farming and over-grazing
• repeated use by nomads and camel caravans

Why are droughts a problem for farmers in the Sahel?

• animals move into the desert to find water
• the desert stops expanding when there is rain in the Sahel
• the soil is of poor quality and dry conditions result in even fewer crops
• people do not try to farm in the Sahel any more due to the increased rainfall