Environment in Libya Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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The North African nation formally known as the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has been dominated by Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi since 1969 in a unique combination of socialism, Islam, and Qadhafism. Under Qadhafi, the Libyan government became a haven for suspected terrorists, and Libyan oil money was used in repeated attempts to affect politics and access to resources in other countries, as was unsuccessfully attempted in Chad in 1973. In the wake of United Nations sanctions that followed the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1992, overt support for terrorism decreased and Qadhafi moved toward normalizing relations with the West, including paying compensation for past terrorist activities.

Libya’s only natural resource other than the petroleum and natural gas that dominate the economy is gypsum. Just over one percent of land area is arable, and only 17 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture. Libya imports around three-fourths of its food supply. The oil sector accounts for approximately 95 percent of export earnings and around 25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. With a per capita income of $8,400, Libya is ranked 95th in world incomes, considerably higher than most African countries. Unemployment is currently 30 percent, however, and oil earnings tend to be concentrated among the richest segment of society.

Bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Libya has a coastline of 1,770 kilometers. Land borders are shared with Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia. The terrain of Libya is generally barren with flat to undulating plains, plateaus, and depressions; and over 90 percent of all land area is either desert or semi-desert. Elevations range from 47 meters at Sabkhat Ghuzayyil to 2,267 meters at Bikku Bitti. While the climate is Mediterranean along the coast, the desert interior is extremely dry. In the spring and fall, Libya is often beset by ghibli, a hot, dry southern wind that is loaded with dust particles and lasts from one to four days. Dust and sandstorms are frequent throughout the year in the desert that covers much of the country. The frequent dust and sandstorms and the ghibli have combined to produce extensive desertification in Libya, and wind breaks have been built in an effort to halt this process.

Libya usually experiences between 200 and 600 millimeters of rainfall each year. Consequently, fresh water resources are limited. The Great Manmade River Project, the largest of its kind in the world, is currently being erected to transport water via aquifers from under the Sahara to cities along the coast. Critics of the project believe that it is only a stopgap because the fossil reserves that propel its operation will eventually be exhausted. Coastal areas have been polluted from the dumping of raw sewage and from agricultural runoff and industrial effluents. Libya also has an extensive problem with handling solid waste, generating some 0.6 million tons per year.

For the population of 5,900,754, which includes 166,510 nonnationals, there is an intermediate risk of contracting food and waterborne diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever. From April to October, Libyans in some areas face a significant risk of contracting vectorborne diseases. Only three percent of Libyans do not have access to improved sanitation, but 32 percent of rural residents and 28 percent of urban residents do not have sustained access to safe drinking water. The United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Reports rank Libya 58 among 232 nations in overall quality of life issues.

More than 86 percent of the population of Libya lives in urban areas where they work for industries that include petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, and cement. As a result of the extensive population concentration, carbon dioxide emissions rose from 8.9 per capita metric tons in 1980 to 9.1 by 2002. Libya produces 0.2 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Just over nine percent of Libya’s land area is forested, and it is only in oases that date palms, olives, figs, oranges, and wild pistachio nut trees grow. The government has protected 0.1 percent of all land. Of 76 endemic mammal species, eight are endangered, as is one of the 76 endemic bird species.

Environmental protection is still in its early stages in Libya, and the Environmental Agency is working with regional and international groups to formulate environmental policy for Libya. Libya participates in the following international agreements on the environment: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, and Ozone Layer Protection. The Law of the Sea agreement has been signed but was never ratified.

Bibliography:

Timothy Doyle, Environmental Movements in Minority and Majority Worlds: A Global Perspective (Rutgers University Press, 2005);
Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom, Africa and the Middle East: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues (ABC-CLIO, 2003);
Valentine Udoh James, Africa’s Ecology: Sustaining the Biological and Environmental Diversity of A Continent (McFarland, 1993);