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"Chance encounters are what keep us going." -Murakami

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

The Muskil on the Mountains

Note to Readers: I am in the process of changing my blog to wordpress. No more of this Blogspot shenanigans. So just beware, and it should be switched over in the next few weeks, and you will find a link when it is finished!

The season is winter here. Temperatures have started dipping, the sunlight has reached an all time low for the year. We have had a little bit of rain, a couple of nasty weeks of weather, and probably enough rain.

However, the mountains near my town sit at about 10,500 and 11,000 ft respectively. As of right now, they only have a dusting of snow. From what I understand, this is the way the mountains usually look in November or in May. However, this is January. The heart of winter should be upon us. Instead, unseasonably warm temperatures have resulted in only rain in the surrounding areas, and just a little bit of snow at high elevations.

Yay for me though. Winter gives me the blues, and so these warm temperatures have kind of kept my sanity. When we have a sunny day, it is absolutely gorgeous, and the temperature gets up to around 50-55 Fahrenheit.

Talking to the local people and hearing the stories from other volunteers, last winter was excruciatingly brutal. Temperatures were bitter cold, and the amount of snow and precipitation we had was the most in about 30 years. It seems that this year is the opposite, and I hear about these 5 year cycles, where you have one or two "normal" years, and one "wet" year, and the other two or three years are "dry."

This region, and most of Morocco, have been in a drought over the past 20 years. Recently there has been a period of normalcy, but still, not enough to make up for the lack of precipitation over the long period of time.

The lack of snow on the nearby mountains worries me, and worries the people in the villages. This region relies heavily on Apple production, so much in fact that it is a export monoculture (other than wheat and corn for self). The snow on the mountains provides water into the dry months of summer, and allows for trees to maintain growth, and apples for ripen as they should. Apples also tend to be water intensive crops. Also, people in some villages have periods of dry wells and streams in the summer. In fact, most streams are dry as you get further away from their source.

So hopefully by now you can realize what problems this region might face in the summer. I worry about this, and worry that the lack of below freezing weather and snow on the mountains will crush the income generation of the region, and leave some villages without water for months on end during the summer.

Recently, over the past 30 years or so, this muskil (problem in Darija) has become worse due to two reasons, and potentially three. I will lay out these reasons, and let you come to your own decisions on if you choose to believe them.

The first reason is development. This is a good reason. As the region I live became accessible to farming, to consumerism, and more developed, the amount of resources used per person has increased. People are striving to have a better life, and build better communities for their families. You certainly cannot slight people for this. The people everywhere in developing countries deserve all of this.

The second reason is population growth. This region has doubled in population over the past 10 years. It is due to the development, and increase in living standards (health care, electricity, potable water). You also take the increase in resource use per person, and this exacerbates the problem even more when it comes to specifically water use. More farmers growing more apples equals more water needed and used. It also adds to more environmental degradation, in terms of pollution and wood use, the two major issues environmentally speaking.

The final reason is the sensitive, debatable issue. This issue is climate change. Now, before you naysayers get all uptight, just listen. Trends, whether it is just a long term cycle loop, or actual global climate change, it has hurt this country, and this region of the country. On the issue of global climate change, there are winners and losers in terms of countries. Morocco is repeatedly a loser, as the already dry regions become dryer, and the sahara/sahel regions encroach on the land here, and desertification becomes and issue. Because once an area loses its green (usually what little green it has) there is no way to return.

These trends in Morocco over the past thirty years have the potential to affect everyone. Morocco is the breadbasket of Europe, and a large majority of Europes food imports come from Morocco. So it becomes not only Morocco's problem, but Europe's problem as well. Whether you want to buy into the fact that this is due to global warming or just another cycle, that is your choice. BUT, looking at the data, Morocco has been a loser over the past 30 years or so in terms of lack of precipitation in the rainy season and increased temperatures.

I encourage you to read the book "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, who is an utmost expert on the issue of environmental degradation and cultures. I would call it Environmental Anthropology. Diamond puts all the evidence out there for the ways civlizations both now and in the past has collapsed. Probably one of the best books on this topic I have ever read.

Much Love, and Hope that you are doing well! Happy New Year and Happy Belated Holidays for those of you that were celebrating!