Read the text and answer the questions: North Africa and Southwest…

Question Answered step-by-step Read the text and answer the questions: North Africa and Southwest… Read the text and answer the questions:  North Africa and Southwest Asia: Major Supplier of the World’s Oil North Africa and Southwest Asia are the main sources of oil in the world. In fact, half the world’s oil reserves are in North African and Southwest Asian nations of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and Iraq. This means that the oil- consuming nations of the world, including the United States, rely heavily on these nations for their energy needs. It also means that the relationships between the nations that supply oiland the nations that consume oil are very important. Any problems between the nations can have a big effect on the oil supply. Oil supply affects the people of the United States in many ways. Read the passage below to learn about the country’s dependency on NorthAfrican and Southwest Asian oil and why the United States is seeking energy alternatives. The United States is the largestconsumer of oil in the world.Americans use 19.5 million barrelsof oil every day. Of those 19.5 millionbarrels of oil, about 9 million are imported. Nearly30 percent of that importedoil comes from North Africaand Southwest Asia. This was not always the case, however.Until about 100 years ago, there was no great need for oil in the United States. There were no automobiles, and homes and businesses were heated by coal or wood. That all changed with the invention and mass production of the automobile, which ran on an engine that used gasoline refined from oil. By the mid-1900s, many families in the country had a car. Businesses and homes were heated using energy derivedfrom oil.Trucks were used to transport goods throughout the nation. The demand for oil grew. As the demandfor oil rose in the United States,the value of Middle Easternoil soared, too. The countries of North Africa and Southwest Asia became some of the wealthiest nations in the world. In the mid-1900s, many of these oil- producing countries decided to “nationalize” their oil industries. That means that oil production and its profits were now in control of individual North African and Southwest Asiancountries.   Five oil-producing nations—Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait, along with Venezuela, a South American country with a lot of oil—started a group called the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This association had enormous power. It could set oil prices and production levels. Not surprisingly, OPEC set prices to help its member nations. Countries that importedoil from OPEC could do little to negotiate the cost of oil. These oil-producing nations had also been involved in a long conflict with Israel, which shaped their foreign policies and priorities. Israel had been established after WorldWar II on land that peoples in the regionhad been fighting over for centuries. Theconflict between the Israel and other nations of NorthAfrica and Southwest Asia was very serious. Much of the dispute was (and still is) due to religious differences. It led to a series of armed conflicts that developed into open warfare several times during the decades after World War II. Theconflict spilled over into the international scene in 1973, when OPEC calledfor an oil embargo. The 1973 Oil EmbargoIn 1973, OPEC decided to use its control over the majority of the world’s oil supplyto make a political point.It called for an oil embargo againstany country that supported Israel. An embargo is a ban on the sale of a product. In this case, OPEC cut off the sale of its oil to the United States and any country that supported Israel. Because America was so dependent on North African and Southwest Asianoil, the effectsof the embargo were immediate—and negative. The price of gasoline in the United States skyrocketed. The costs of everything transported by gasoline, including food, clothing, and many other items, rose drastically, and it was not just prices that Americans had to worry about. The supply of gasoline was cut back so much that shortages occurred. People waitedin line for hours at gas stations to buy fuel. Sometimes, the stations ran out of gas. Owners of homes and factories that were heated by fuel oil faced huge increases in their energy bills. The 1973 oil embargo was the first, but not the last, political conflict between the United Statesand North Africaand Southwest Asia that disrupted the flow of oil. In 1979, Iran became an Islamic state.Iranian revolutionaries took over   the U.S. embassy and took embassypersonnel hostage for 444 days.Since that event, the United States and Iran have been locked in political conflict. The United States and several other nations no longer buy oil from Iran, which is one of the largest producers of petroleum in the world. Additional conflicts in other areas of North Africa and Southwest Asia have added to the problem of the United States finding a stable oil supply. Twice in the past 30 years, there have been wars in North Africa and Southwest Asia involving the United States. Both involved large exporters of oil. The first incident occurred in 1990, when many nations, including the United States, fought Iraq because Iraq had invaded Kuwait. The second conflict came 13 years later, when U.S. forces invaded Iraq, and remained in Iraq for 8 years. Both of these eventsdisrupted the flow of oil from one of the largest producersin the world. Looking for Alternatives These conflicts made Americans and their leadersready to look for alternatives to North African and Southwest Asian oil. They wanted to decrease their reliance on an energysource that could be affectedby international politics. Business and political leaders began to look for other countries where oil was also available. Beginning in the 1970s, they began to buy oil from sources much closer to home. By the 2000s, two of America’s biggest oil suppliers were Mexico and Canada. This was a good choice for the United States, because both sources border the country, which means that transporting the oil is cheaper and easier. U.S. and international companies also began developing oil drilling and refining in the Gulf of Mexico.That brought even more oil to the country. The United States also began to develop its own ability to produce oil. In particular, one method called”hydraulic fracturing” showspromise. This typeof extraction uses pressure to release oil trapped in layers of rock. Studies indicate that it could produce as much as three million barrels of oil a day by 2035. The United States is also exploring alternative sources of energy. These sources include solar power, wind power, and the mining of natural gas. The industries built around these energy sources are still developing in the early 21st century, but they show promise in finding alternatives to North African and Southwest Asian oil. Pollution and Climate ChangeThe use of fossilfuels for energycarries another concernfor Americans, beyond   the concern for finding reliable sources. The burning of fossil fuels for energy creates pollution. Over the past four decades,scientists have studiedthe effects of burning fossil fuels on the environment. Their findings show that the burning of oil and coal for energy is the single biggest source of greenhouse gases. Those gases, in the opinion of many scientists, contribute to climate change and global warming. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that, in 2006, “energy-related carbon dioxide emissions,resulting from the [burning] of petroleum, coal, and naturalgas, represented 82 percent of the totalU.S…………………………………………. greenhouse gas emissions.” This high emission rate is directly related to the number of petroleum-fueled cars and trucks in America today. There are about 260 million cars in the United States.That means four cars for every five people in the country.These cars travel about three trillion miles every year. The emissions from these cars are responsible for sending tons of carbondioxide into the atmosphere. How to Grow and Be Green at the Same TimeAll of these concerns have to be balanced against the growing needs of a growingnation. Despite all of the problems with imported oil, from pricespikes to pollution, Americans are still very dependent on the automobile. Some 70 percentof the oil consumed in the UnitedStates is used for transportation.When there is a spike in gas prices, Americans will often decrease their oil use. They buy smaller cars with better fuel economy. However, when gas prices go down, Americans usually increase their fuel use. In the past, they have often bought “gas guzzlers,” big cars with poor fuel economy, when gas prices fall. This pattern appears to be changing, especially since the recent recession began in 2007. Although gas prices have continued to rise and fall, there has been adownward trend in gas consumption in the UnitedStates. There has also been a growing trend for Americans to buy cars that are more fuel efficient or that run on alternative fuels, such as ethanol, electricity, or both. Americans in the early 21st century are faced with several challenges regarding energy sources and energy use. The country needs to develop energy policies that will decrease their dependence on oil from North Africa and Southwest Asia. Americans need to find and develop energy sources that will not be harmful to the environment. These dual challenges will be important in the debate over the future of the country, whether from a political, economic, or social issuespoint of view,for many yearsto come.   After readingthe passage, answerthe following questions: What do you think the future will look like in North Africa and SouthWest Asia? Why?   What historical evidence or current data supports your prediction?  How are countries in this region looking to diversify their economies?  Why is diversification necessary? History US History HISTORY 740900 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)