Lake Chad: A Study of a Drying Freshwater Body
Concern that the capacity of the Lake Chad to provide adequate water supply has drastically reduced in the last three decades, which led us to investigate what management actions have been employed to ensure sustainable use of the shared water system. Lake Chad is Africa s fourth largest lake with a maximuM length of 25, 000 km2 from a previous 388, 500 km2 some 600, 000 years ago. During the last four decades, the Lake has been susceptible to increasing variability and irregularity in rainfall. Dry spell, excessive evaporation and sandstorm have impacted negatively on the water body. Consequently, the Lake has shrunk appreciably by up to 80 per cent in 1985 but reaching 19, 000 km2 in 2001.Given the critical importance of the Lake, its capacity to ameliorate extreme aridity in a desert ecosystem, the Lake as a source of livelihood support to more than 20 million people, the Lake as habitat to a wide range of biodiversity, we assessed relevant case studies and references from accessible documentation pertaining to the Lake. We found that the Lake is under severe stress arising from several factors, which include drought.
To reverse the trend and ensure sustainability a deliberate and coordinated international action is required. lake chad freshwater lake evaporation
Luke Onyekakeyah
Guardian Newspapers, Rutam House PMB 1217, Oshodi Lagos, Nigeria
国际会议
郑州
英文
168-176
2009-10-20（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）