Unexpected Consequences
Dating back some ten thousand years, Mesopotamia is often called the
“cradle of civilization,” a precursor to modern cities supported by rural
farming. Its semiarid climate and abundance of fertile soil and sunshine
were similar to conditions in California’s Central Valley, the primary
source of America’s produce and tree nuts. And just like the Central
Valley, Mesopotamia relied on an extensive network of aqueducts and
canals to deliver water to its fields.
For thousands of years, as water flowed from rivers through canals,
farmers grew barley, emmer (wheat), nuts, herbs, beans, lentils, green
vegetables like lettuce and garlic, and fruits such as apples, melons,
grapes, pomegranates, and figs. Sheep, goats, pigs, and, later, cattle,
donkeys, and oxen were also used for food and for labor. With ingenuity,
people tamed the environment and society flourished.
The area that was once Mesopotamia still exists today. Nestled
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, it encompasses what is Iraq,
portions of Turkey, Syria, and Iran. But the water that once flowed
through its canals and aqueducts, along with its periodic floods, changed
the land long ago. Silt particles too small to see were deposited on the
top layers of soil, making them impermeable. As the water evaporated,
the salt left behind accumulated, preventing seeds from germinating.
Where the land was sandy, water passed through the soils too quickly
for plants to hold on to moisture and nutrients. The environment was
forever changed. The flourishing Mesopotamian era was over.
Today, a different environment now characterizes the region. Large
expanses of irrigated fields that once produced a cornucopia of fruits and
vegetables have disappeared. Pastures of animals that provided a bounty
of meat and milk are also gone. What remains is severe desertification,
with intense dust storms that loosen and then sweep up layers of dirt to
be scattered about by strong winds. Similar phenomena are happening
in California and other states. The only difference is the severity and
rate of change.
History teaches that we can alter the environment, but we cannot
control what happens afterward. When potatoes were introduced in
Europe, people enjoyed a new abundance of food. While one acre of
wheat or barley had yielded around ,4 pounds, the same acre planted