As reported here (and a bunch of other places) the other day, Boston University scientists announced they had found an ancient, HUGE, underground lake in Darfur. This announcement brought all sorts of hope that, with abundant water, friction between Arab nomads and black farmers might be reduced, and the awful humanitarian mess in the region alleviated.
It sounded too good to be true, and it might turn out to be so.
Alain Gachet, an "expert" in such things (accord to the Beeb, at least), says the area probably did hold a shed-load of water 5,000 to 25,000 years ago, but is dried up now.
Dr. Gachet is inolved in a UN project to drill for water further south in Darfur. No word if there's any profit motive involved for the good doctor, but one suspects there is, and that could certainly cast some doubt on his hot sports opinion regarding the BU finding.
We shall see. It sure would be nice if someone found water in the region. A reduction in competition for resources can only help.
No comments:
Post a Comment