Editing Arabian Peninsula (section)

===Land and sea===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Al hafa corniche.jpg
| caption1          = Coconut palms line corniches of Al-Hafa, Oman.
| image2            = Coral Reef in the Red Sea.JPG
| caption2          = Red Sea coral reefs
| image3            = Al-Shaggain, Mukalla.jpg
| caption3          = {{transliteration|ar|Al-Shaggain}} rock formation in [[Burum, Yemen|Burum]], a [[List of World Heritage Sites in Yemen#Tentative list|tentative World Heritage Site in Yemen]]
}}

Most of the Arabian Peninsula is unsuited to agriculture, making irrigation and land reclamation projects essential. The narrow coastal plain and isolated oases, amounting to less than 1% of the land area, are used to cultivate grains, [[coffee]] and [[tropical fruit]]s. Goat, sheep, and [[camel]] husbandry is widespread elsewhere throughout the rest of the Peninsula. Some areas have a summer humid [[tropical monsoon climate]], in particular the [[Dhofar]] and [[Al Mahrah]] areas of Oman and Yemen. These areas allow for large scale coconut plantations. Much of Yemen has a tropical [[monsoon]] rain influenced mountain climate. The plains usually have either a tropical or subtropical arid [[desert climate]] or arid [[steppe climate]]. The sea surrounding the Arabian Peninsula is generally tropical with a very rich  sea life and some of the world's largest and most pristine coral reefs. In addition, the [[protozoa]] and [[zooxanthellae]] living in [[symbiosis]] with Red Sea corals have a unique hot weather adaptation to sudden rise (and fall) in sea water temperature. Hence, these coral reefs are not affected by coral bleaching caused by rise in temperatures, as [[Indo-Pacific]] coral reefs are. The reefs are also unaffected by mass tourism and diving or other large scale human interference. The Persian gulf has suffered significant loss and degradation of coral reefs with the biggest ongoing threat believed to be coastal construction activity altering the marine environment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Riegl |first1=Bernhard |last2=Purkis |first2=Samuel|date=2011 |editor-last=Hopley |editor-first=D |title= Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs |publisher=Springer |pages=790–798 |chapter=Persian/Arabian Gulf Coral Reefs |isbn=978-90-481-2639-2|doi=10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_123}}</ref>

The fertile soils of Yemen have encouraged settlement of almost all of the land from sea level up to the mountains at {{convert|10000|ft}}. In the higher elevations, elaborate terraces have been constructed to facilitate grain, fruit, coffee, ginger and [[khat]] cultivation. The Arabian peninsula is known for its rich oil, i.e. petroleum production due to its geographical location.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sorkhabi |first=Rasoul |title=The Emergence of the Arabian Oil Industry |url=https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2008/06/the-emergence-of-the-arabian-oil-industry |website=Geoexpro |date=June 2008 |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601235624/https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2008/06/the-emergence-of-the-arabian-oil-industry |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to NASA's [[Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment]] (GRACE) satellite data (2003–2013) analysed in a [[University of California, Irvine]] (UCI)-led study published in [[Water Resources Research]] on 16 June 2015, the most over-stressed aquifer system in the world is the [[Arabian Aquifer System]], upon which more than 60 million people depend for water.<ref name="NASA_GRACE">{{citation |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4626 |work=NASA |date=16 June 2015 |access-date=26 June 2015 |title=Study: Third of Big Groundwater Basins in Distress |archive-date=27 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627045543/http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4626 |url-status=live }}</ref> Twenty-one of the 37 largest aquifers "have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted" and thirteen of them are "considered significantly distressed".<ref name="NASA_GRACE"/>