Green sahara

PhysOrg has an article on 8000 years ago, the Sahara wasn't a desert, and that as it dried out, people tried to stop it.

LINK

Dr. Chris Brierley (UCL Geography), lead author, said: "The possibility that humans could have had a stabilizing influence on the environment has significant implications.

We contest the common narrative that past human-environment interactions must always be one of over-exploitation and degradation. "The fact that societies practising 'pastoralism' persisted in this region for so long and invested both economically and ideologically in the local landscape, does not support the scenario of over-exploitation.

Our study shows that increasing human population and sustainable pastoralism did not accelerate—and may even have delayed—the decline of the 'Green Sahara'."

Around 8,000 years ago, the Sahara wasn't desert, but instead was a vibrant ecosystem that supported hunter-gatherers and fisherfolk. The 'Green Sahara' - the colloquial term for the African Humid Period – was the period in which North Africa became much wetter than it is today thanks to a series of monsoons. As the Earth's orbit slowly changed, the rain started to reduce, and the vegetation started to die back. Around 5,500 years ago, the ecosystem in the Sahara went into a terminal decline towards the desert we have today. Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-10-humans-onset-sahara-years.html#jCp

The Tassili n’Ajjer [Algeria] : birthplace of ancient Egypt ? Journal3net's article is gone, but the Freepers still have it on line:

I first got interested in this many years ago after reading Desmond Bagley's book Flyaway. (you can borrow it on internet archives with free registration).

they also have the book about the search for the Tassili frescoes.

I have a couple books saved on Scribd to learn about the history of the Sahara, i.e. culture and trade links, but haven't gotten around to reading them.

there has been a lot of stuff written about greening the desert using canals and the water from the huge aquifers under the sand, such as this one



the Saudis are also depleting their reserve aquifers to irrigate, so are quietly working with the Israelis to devise schemes to grow food and even desalinate the oceans.

this is important,because overpopulation means lots of migrants seeking to go to Europe, and because it fuels ISIS type crazies as this is the best job in town for idle young men.

President Obama was once loudly mocked for blaming the civil war in Syria on "climate change", but he was partly right: The 2006 drought that displaced farmers was partly to blame since a lot of farmers moved to the cities and this caused unrest. Smithsonian article discusses this, but also notes that these water wars have been going on for about 6000 years.