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Climate Change Puts North Africa in a Hot Spot

Lisa Bryant

   BIR SALAH, TUNISIA -- Samira Sghaier and a group of friends prune
   moringa trees under a searing sun, dropping fistfuls of leafy branches
   into plastic tubs. Prickly acacias edge the plot of land, protecting
   bone-dry soil from further erosion.

   Sghaier's father once grew olive and fruit trees -- varieties that
   mostly shriveled and died under her watch. "There hasn't been enough
   rain in recent years," says the 52-year-old farmer.

   Her tiny farm in eastern Tunisia is a bellwether for the dramatic
   environmental changes already reshaping North Africa, which threaten to
   intensify with climate change.

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