Environmental Issues
- Periodic droughts, limited natural fresh water resources (roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant)
- Extreme soil conditions are caused by high alkalinity, high phosphate levels and low potassium. Iron, manganese, copper, molybdenum and zinc are rendered unavailable to plants. Combined with thin or damaged soils this causes low fertility.
- Intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years has left the central 80% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources.
Nauru is party to the international environmental agreements on biodiversity, climate change, desertification, law of the sea and marine dumping.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Nauru
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