As strange as it sounds, sand dunes are known to migrate. As wind blows sand over the dunes it comes to rest on the other side where the wind is blocked. Gradually over time, the dunes become bigger and shift the way that the wind is blowing. For example dunes at the beach, if you stand on the top of the dune you feel the sand hitting your legs and ankles. But as you continue to step to the other side the wind very suddenly stops. This is an issue for giant sand dunes in desert areas. Some places that are in danger of this happening are, Northern China, Parts of Africa, and the Middle East. Some dunes in these areas are moving up to twenty meters per year and are approaching some cities. There are a couple of things that could be done about this, some of the options are drench the dunes with water, or put up sand fences that are much like snow fences. Although it is very hard to predict what the dunes will do, all of these ideas and solutions to the problems are really just guess work. Physicists have equations for the movement of water, solids, and gasses, but sand dunes don’t quite fit into a category.
I think that this could be a huge problem for places, if a solution isn’t found. Who knows what could be buried out in the desert without anyone knowing? This is a dangerous situation and something needs to be done in order to protect the environment and the people living in it.
I think that this could be a real problem. Something needs to be done to prevent sand dunes from burying things. This could become a real problem for cities that are surrounded by sand dunes. Hopefully a solution can be found that can prevent them from burying anything but that also preserves the dunes.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a problem that we need to find a solution for soon. I think this is an issue that not many people think about. I had no idea that sand dunes were damaging in any way, let alone burying things.
ReplyDeleteI didnr realize that sand dunes could do that. People need to be informed about this so we can figure out a solution to fix it before its to late!
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