Salinization was a problem in Sumer but is no longer an issue today.
Why was salt a problem for the Sumerians?
Rising salinity first forced the Sumerians to switch from wheat to barley, which can tolerate more salt; by about 1800 B.C. even barley could no longer be grown in southern Iraq, and Sumerian civilization collapsed. Later ''salinity crises'' took place further north.
Where is salinization most problematic?
The most known regions where salt-induced land degradation takes place:
- the Aral Sea Basin (Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya River Basins) in Central Asia,
- the Indo-Gangetic Basin in India,
- the Indus Basin in Pakistan,
- the Yellow River Basin in China,
- the Euphrates Basin in Syria and Iraq,
- the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia,
