There have been wars and conflicts in the Middle East for a long time. Collect information after class and discuss the influence of oil and water resources on wars and conflicts in the Middle East.

How rich are the oil reserves in the Gulf? Before answering this question, let's listen to a joke. Someone once dug a well in the vast desert of Saudi Arabia to find water. However, every time a well is drilled, oil comes out of the well instead of water. It is also an exaggeration to say that in the Gulf region, chopsticks in the sand will produce oil. What is the actual situation? According to the exploration results, the oil reserves in the Gulf region are indeed extremely rich, just like a huge oil sea, covering eight countries along the Gulf coast, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq and Iran. In 200 1 year, the total proven reserves in the Gulf region were 699 billion barrels, accounting for 65.7% of the total proven reserves in the world. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, the six oil-rich Gulf countries, have proven total oil reserves of about 457.5 billion barrels, accounting for about 46% of the world's total reserves. In addition to oil, the Gulf region is rich in natural gas reserves. The world's proven natural gas reserves are11800 million cubic meters, of which nearly 1/3 is in the Gulf. Therefore, people call the six Gulf countries "countries floating on the oil sea". However, you know what? Although the Middle East is rich in oil resources, it is very short of water resources.

The first is the Middle East, where there used to be dense forests.

Archaeologists and geologists have verified that at least 780,000 years ago, the distant ancestors of human beings originated in Africa, and one branch of them went from central Africa to the north and along the Mediterranean coast to the East to reach the Dead Sea area. Then they migrated to the north and east and became the ancestors of human beings in Europe and Asia. Until tens of thousands of years ago, the Middle East was once a dense tropical forest, and the Dead Sea was once a beautiful freshwater lake surrounded by Cangshan green trees. The abundant oil and a large number of ancient animal fossils in the underground tropical forests in the Middle East are proof. However, now these dense forests are deserted, and now the Middle East is a vast desert. People can't help asking: Why have the most beautiful and pleasant cradles of mankind been abandoned and the most powerful ancient civilizations declined?

Second, the Middle East is fighting for water.

The earth, seen from a distance, is a beautiful blue water polo, with 2/3 of its surface covered by water, but in fact, 97.5% is seawater. Of the remaining 2.5% fresh water, 77.2% is ice and snow, 22.4% is groundwater, and only 0.4% is surface water. The fresh water available to human beings only accounts for 0.0 14% of the earth's water reserves. Water brings life as well as conflict and war. Today's Middle East is mainly due to climate change and rainfall reduction, followed by environmental damage caused by years of war and population expansion.

The water resources in the Middle East are mainly distributed in the Nile Valley, Tigris River, Euphrates River and Jordan Valley. The area of Arab countries is140,000 square kilometers, accounting for 9% of the global land area, but water resources only account for 0.7% of the world's water resources. Coupled with the decrease in rainfall, most countries in the Middle East are seriously short of water, suffering from drought for more than ten years in a row and facing a serious water crisis, making water more expensive than oil in some areas. The world's per capita water consumption is 6.5438+0.3 million tons, while the Arab per capita is only 654.38+0.750 tons. In addition, the population of 2654.38+0 countries in the Middle East is growing at an average rate of 3%. It is predicted that the Arab population will reach 600 million in 25 years, and the per capita water consumption will fall below 700 tons (the per capita water consumption in some countries is less than 100 tons), which will further accelerate the shortage of water resources.

In the Gulf countries, seawater desalination reaches 65.438+0.5 billion tons every year. Urban greening in rich countries costs more than $500 to $65,438+0,000 per tree every year, and the cost of growing wheat can be seven times the international price. But poor countries are struggling for basic drinking water, and the disparity between the rich and the poor intensifies the contradiction in the Middle East. For example, the tiny Jordan River, which gave birth to two major religions, is the most hotly contested water source in the Middle East. The Jordan River belongs to Jordan, Syria and Israel. Over the years, Arabs and Israel have fought to the death over water resources, and four wars in the Middle East have been related to this. The Jordan River provides two-thirds of the water for Lake Galilee, Israel's main water source. The Johnston Agreement of 1955 stipulated that all parties should take water, but only Israel signed it. The Arab countries tried to cut off the Jordan River in the 1960s, and the Israeli army blew up the cutting-off equipment in Syria in 1965, which became one of the reasons for the 1967 war. Both Arab countries and Israel regard the destruction and competition for each other's water sources as their primary strategic goals, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights, the birthplace of the Jordan River. The focus of Syrian-Israeli negotiations is not the Golan Heights, but the water source. Israel agreed to return the entire Golan, but insisted that Syria should not enter Lake Galilee. The Jordan River is also one of the difficult problems in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, and Israel insists on occupying most of the water resources in the West Bank. At present, the water resources in Palestinian areas are completely controlled by Israel, and the per capita water consumption is only 1/4 of that of Jewish settlers, but the cost is twice as high. Pakistan had to over-extract groundwater, which made the water quality worse. The groundwater in Gaza has been salinized and inedible. Since the violent conflict, Pakistan's water resources have been neglected, and the water shortage is more serious.

Third, the transformation of desert depends not only on science and technology.

The shortage of water resources seriously puzzles Arab countries and poses a threat to national security. In order to solve this problem, some Arab countries have formulated and adopted comprehensive strategic measures to develop and protect water resources. Egypt plans to continue to build the Jugley Canal between it and Sudan. The canal is 280 kilometers long, 0/20 meters wide and 5 meters deep. After completion, the water volume of the White Nile can be increased by1400 million cubic meters. Egypt has also formulated a 30-year irrigation innovation strategy costing $7.6 billion. The strategic plan aims to modernize irrigation facilities and save irrigation water by 65,438+00% within 30 years from1July 65,438+0, 1996. In addition, the Egyptian government has taken measures to reduce the planting area of rice and other crops that consume a lot of water. Israel has also carried out large-scale water-saving activities, invented and adopted computer-controlled drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation systems for agricultural irrigation. The Water Law was enacted, and the water intake permit and planned water distribution system were implemented. Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates rely on seawater desalination to alleviate residents' water difficulties. In addition, Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, Minister of Water Resources of Saudi Arabia, recently announced that in order to solve the water shortage crisis in the future kingdom, it is planned to levy a water resource tax within two years, and other corresponding measures are needed. Other Arab countries are also improving irrigation methods and taking various measures to save water and protect and develop new renewable water sources.

At present, there is no international law to define the distribution of international rivers, and the general practice stipulates that coastal countries cannot unilaterally build river projects without authorization, let alone endanger the interests of other countries. At present, countries in the Middle East have their own ways to solve the water crisis, and countries along the three major water systems in the Middle East have not reached a comprehensive agreement on sharing water resources, which makes disputes continue and conflicts intensify. In addition, if we only rely on some rich Gulf countries to transform the desert, we are still weak and unable to fundamentally transform the desert climate. Only the Middle East can achieve peace, jointly develop land and water resources, and finally conquer the desert.