Thirsty Plant Dries Out Yemen

Thirsty Plant Dries Out Yemen
Quarter 1
Article 8
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/world/middleeast/01yemen.html?_r=1
NY times
Miller chapter
The area covered is global.

Across Yemen, the underground water sources are running out, a crisis that could prove deadlier than the resurgence of Al Qaeda here. At the root of the water crisis is the quadrupling of the population in the last 50 years. Even as drought kills off Yemen's crops, farmers in villages like this one are turning increasingly to a thirsty plant called qat, the leaves of which are chewed every day by most Yemeni men (and some women) for their mild narcotic effect. The farmers have little choice: qat is the only way to make a profit. Even as drought kills off Yemen's crops, farmers in villages like this one are turning increasingly to a thirsty plant called qat, the leaves of which are chewed every day by most Yemeni men (and some women) for their mild narcotic effect. The farmers have little choice: qat is the only way to make a profit.

I think that this is devastating. Our society takes water for granted. We use gallons of it daily. In Yemen, there is barely enough water to survive.