A Siege of Salt and Sand
“A Siege of Salt and Sand” is a documentary based on the North African nation, the Republic of Tunisia. The documentary discusses the environmental challenges that Tunisia is facing and how these challenges have affected its economy. Tunisia is situated in the northernmost part of Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by the Sahara Desert, which makes it vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. These impacts affect not only Tunisia but also other countries in North Africa and the Mediterranean region, impacting them negatively in terms of the environment, the economy, and society.
One of the environmental challenges in Tunisia that was shown in the documentary is rising sea levels. Tunisia has a substantial Mediterranean Sea coastline. Environmentally, rising sea levels can cause coastal erosion, endangering coastal infrastructure and residents. Economically, rising sea levels can cause loss of land; valuable land gets “lost” in the sea which disrupts the agriculture in Tunisia, limiting the food production. This causes the economy to decrease as food is limited in the society. An example of this is the case study that was mentioned in the documentary; Kerkennah lost their date palm tree (an important food resource used for economic value) from the sea levels, causing food security. In addition, Tunisia is very big in the fishing industries but with recurring rising sea levels, the fish population decreases and fisherman jobs are decreasing which puts some people to struggle financially and provide for themselves and family.
Another environmental challenge in Tunisia is heatwaves. Tunisia has an increasing temperature and heat waves which affects the society in many ways such as agriculture; long term high temperatures can cause heat stress in crops which kills agriculture meaning decrease in economic and basic human needs.Heatwaves can exacerbate water scarcity problems in Tunisia by raising evaporation rates and lowering the amount of water available for agricultural and domestic consumption. This could result in more competition for available water supplies and higher water management expenses, which would affect the agricultural and industrial sectors.
The feedback I give on the documentary is informative; it helps the outside perspective see the environmental struggle Tunisia is currently fighting and how it impacts the economy in a negative way. An example of Tunisia trying to improve their developing country is the involvement of the citizens to work together to decrease climate change by creating dunes. This shows how important it is for the citizens to make their country stablized. In addition, Tunisia created a law regarding climate change in their country which again shows the importance in fixing their economy and society. Not alot of developing countries do that due to maintaining human basic needs such as clean water, energy source, and etc (Bangladesh is a perfect example). But Tunisia is creating a balance for both human needs and climate change as both can affect short and long term.
In summary, “A Siege of Salt and Sand” is an effective representation of Tunisia’s resolve to face its environmental problems head-on. It emphasizes the necessity for coordinated global action in the face of climate change by providing insightful information about the complex interactions among environmental elements, economic stability, and societal well-being. The film serves as a moving reminder that the effects of climate change are not limited to one country but have an impact on everyone.
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