Human Impact on Natural Systems in the Middle East Essay

Human Impact on Natural Systems in the Middle East - Essay Example Since time immemorial, human beings have had to adapt to these different natural systems in order to survive, and throughout this time, this race has proven to be among the most resilient in the world. While one cannot help but commend the hardiness of this race in its ability to survive even some of the harshest conditions in the world, it should be noted that human beings, through their activities, have had an impact on the naturals systems within which they have come to settle. This is a consequence of their attempts to adapt to these environments, and while some of the impacts may be positive, sadly, a majority of them tend to be negative, as it has often led to the destruction of the natural systems that are involved. Among the most affected areas in the world today, due to human activity, is the Middle East where there has existed, for thousands of years, great civilizations, which have impacted significantly on the natural systems. Human beings in the Middle East were, for a l ong time, primarily pastoralists and because of this, they had an impact on the environment. This region is primarily arid or semiarid and because of this, the pastoralists had to move from place to place with their livestock in order to find sustenance. These people tended to have large herds, which fed on the scarce vegetation that could be found in this region at the time (Bocco & Jaubert, 1994). Consequently, large tracts of rare vegetation were destroyed by these animals and with this destruction came the destruction of many diverse ecosystems. With the destruction of the plant life also came to the continued desertification of the region as the scarce plant cover was stripped away by the large herds of livestock (Davis, 2010). In recent times, however, as many people in the region have come to abandon pastoralism in favor of living in urban areas, some of the vegetation that was almost completely destroyed has begun to thrive again. The Middle East is a major source of oil and natural gas and it has been stated that it holds some of the largest reserves of these resources in the world. Over the last few decades, these resources have been a major source of income for the countries, which can be found in this region. Not only has it enabled their governments to have plenty of wealth to fund expansive social welfare systems, but it has also enabled the increase of the standard of living, with some even stating that these standards are higher than those in the Western world (Toksoz, 2000). While this is true, there has also been a significant impact on the environment. The first of these has been the discharge of carbon fumes to the environment from the oil mining sites. The mining of oil and its refining involves the burning of the fossil fuels involved so that the product can be extracted from the ground, and this means that there has been a rise in the carbon emissions in the region in recent decades. While the mining of oil has and continues to be a prof itable venture, it has come to bring harm to the environment as it has contributed an immense deal to global warming (Hawley, 2004). While some places in the Middle East were extremely dry, with the commencement of oil mining, these places have become even drier and hotter, this has led to the destruction of quite a number of plants, and animal life since the increased heat has destroyed their ecosystems.