Inside a three-level building there would be a vast oasis dedicated to arid climate - or "Blade Runner territory" - and beneath would be chambers with displays whose designers will include musician Peter Gabriel and children's author Philip Pullman.

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The researchers say the toolmakers at Jebel Faya may have reached the Arabian Peninsula at a time when changes in the climate were transforming it from arid desert into a grassland habitat with lakes and rivers.

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Climate change, it says, will make food even scarcer in semi-arid countries such as Sudan.

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During the consultations governance challenges in arid and semi-arid areas were discussed and how institutions can be better equipped to deal with risks and uncertainties, emerging out of climate change, population growth, urban-rural tensions and groundwater pollution.

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