[Mrs. Don-o]

I believe it was the Greek historian Herodotus who mentioned that North Africa, which had been forested, was by then (~450 BC) a prairie supporting only rabbits and bees (or something like that.)

So it's been getting drier over the centuries.

Except I think, quite recently, it's begun to slightly green up again. Due to more adequate levels of CO₂?

[JohnBovenmyer]

IIRC through Roman and Visigoth times the north African coastal areas produced a lot of agriculture, including olive trees. Until overrun by nomadic, grazing rather than planting, culture c 700. Soon it was only fit for goats and camels.