Men Against the Desert, UNESCO

The NYPR Archive Collections | Jan 1, 2000

The exact date of this episode is unknown. We've filled in the date above with a placeholder. What we actually have on record is: 1951-uu-uu.

This feature from UNESCO dramatizes the work that is being done to control arid desert climates across the globe.

"This struggle of man against the advancing desert is not new. But because of the enormous pressure of populations, it is more urgent than ever that unproductive land should be brought back into the service of mankind."

The speakers describes collaborative work on water research, cartography, expansion of desert research stations and the development of industry and solar energy in arid zones

The narrator gives examples of engineering projects in Tripolitania (Tripoli, Libya), California, India, and Egypt to divert water and reintroduce vegetation.

"We have a chance by world cooperation of turning a world of want into a world of plenty. More than that, it is a chance to contribute, in a practical way, to the maintenance of world peace---for starving millions are always ready for war. They have so little to lose. By the sharing of engineering and scientific knowledge on an international scale, all nations will have a stake in preserving the peace and maintaining their common prosperity."

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 150780
Municipal archives id: LT8477

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