Lake Chad

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Lake Chad
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Background Information

• Lake Chad is the fourth largest lake in Africa
  and is located in the Sahel zone of west-central
  Africa between Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and
  Niger. The deepest part of the lake is only 7
  meters.
• Lake Chad is a very important asset to the
  region, because it provides water to 20 million
  people and millions of animals.
• The Chari River is the lakes largest source of
  water.
• The lake is surrounded by ecologically sensitive
  marshes.

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Background Information

• Lake Chad is believed to be a remnant of a former
  inland sea which has grown and shrunk with
  changes in climate over the past 13,000 years. It
  was one of the largest lakes in the world when
  first surveyed by Europeans in 1823, but it has
  shrunk considerably since then.

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Current Status

• Lake Chad is shrinking.
• In 1963, the lake covered about 9,700 square
  miles (25,000 square kilometers). Today it is
  one-twentieth of that size.
• Lake Chad has shrunk from 15,000 to 500 sq miles
  in 40 years

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Reasons it is Shrinking

• Probably has nothing to do with global warming
  National Geographic
• There was an extended drought in the 1960s,
  causing local residents to tap the water
  resources of the lake
• The local population has grown dramatically
• Overgrazing has led to a loss of vegetation and a
  drier climate, exacerbating the problem
• Rivers supplying water to the lake have been
  dammed and diverted
• Rainfall in the area has decreased.

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Effects of Changes in Lake Chad

• 9 million farmers, fishermen, and herders live in
  the region
• Crops have failed, livestock have died, and
  fisheries have collapsed.

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Future Projections

• It seems likely that the lake will shrink further
  and perhaps even disappear altogether in the
  course of the 21st century.
• The lake presently has an average depth of only
  1.5 meters. It nearly dried out in 1908 and again
  in 1984.

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Future Goals

• The Lake Chad Basin Commission is seeking
  financing to save the lake by damming the
  Oubangui River at Palambo in Central African
  Republic and channeling some of its water through
  a navigable canal to Lake Chad.
• This has been on the drawing board since the
  1960s.

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Bibliography

• http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4906692.stm
• http//www.ppl.nl/bibliographies/all/showresults.p
  hp?bibliographywatercodeWR213topicregional20
  studies203E20Africa203E20Lake20Chad
• http//www.waterandnature.org/eatlas/html/af1.html
  
• http//news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/04/04
  26_lakechadshrinks_2.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chad
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4906692.stm