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https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/24/chad-desert-oases-wadi-water-gold-climate-crisis>
"On the ochre sands of Kanem, the neat vegetable gardens and silver-green palm
trees of Kaou oasis stand out, incongruous in this desert province of 70,000 sq
km in western Chad.
Oases such as this, on the edge of the Sahara, have sustained human life in the
world’s deserts for thousands of years. Globally, an estimated 150 million
people rely on the water, arable land and access to trade networks they
provide. But in Chad, such oases are disappearing fast.
With two-thirds of its territory consisting of desert, the landlocked central
African country is the most vulnerable in the world to climate breakdown. It
ranks among the world’s hottest and temperatures in Kanem province are rising
almost twice as fast as the global average.
Standing in the scalding sand, Mahamat Souleymane Issa gestures at a thin strip
of greenery stretching along a few hundred metres. “When I was a child, this
wadi [river valley] was very big,” he says.
In the villages surrounding Kaou oasis, “everyone used to have livestock –
cattle, camels, goats”, recalls the 51-year-old chief. “There were many trees
and grass would grow in their shade. A lot has changed.”
The increasingly hot and dry climate has wiped out most of Kaou’s trees, local
people say. Rolling sand dunes, pushed ever closer by stronger winds, now
threaten to swamp what is left. “Without this wadi, we cannot live,” says
Souleymane Issa."
Via Rod Mesa and Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
