Farming started in Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago. If you visit the region today it’s all but fertile. Sand, sand and more sand. https://www.latimes.c

Farming started in Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago. If you visit the region today it’s all but fertile. Sand, sand and more sand. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jun-15-op-diamond15-story.html#:~:text=So%20how%20did%20Fertile%20Crescent,special%20blindness%20on%20their%20part https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jun-15-op-diamo.... > When you clear a forest in a high-rainfall tropical area, new trees grow up to a height of 15 feet within a year; in a dry area like the Fertile Crescent, regeneration is much slower. And when you add to the equation grazing by sheep and goats, new trees stand little chance. Deforestation led to soil erosion, and irrigation agriculture led to salinization, both by releasing salt buried deep in the ground and by adding salt through irrigation water. After centuries of degradation, areas of Iraq that formerly supported productive irrigation agriculture are today salt pans where nothing grows.