Definition: a piece of land, which is fertile, turns into a desert. It’s a result of drought, deforestation or inappropriate agricultural activities.
Research shows that dried lands currently cover about 46.2% of the Earth and are home to about 2-3 billion people. A lot of hotspots have declined in vegetation productivity. During the ’80s and the ’00s, desertification has extended to about 9.2%, which affected about 500 million people in 2015.
Most people affected are in South and East Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and the Sahara region. Desertification has already affected agricultural productivity. It can also spread invasive plants and lead to the loss of the ecosystem.
What is behind desertification?
Some natural causes include extended periods of drylands, where the land becomes “dead” soil. Human activities can also cause desertification. For example, intense agriculture, poor irrigation, deforestation, etc. This pressures the land and causes it to overexploit. Which can eventually lead to erosion. Land management also plays a huge role in some relatively populous regions. The atmospheric buildup of carbon dioxide and other gasses from fossil fuels also causes global warming. This rise in temperature makes the process of desertification accelerate.
What are the effects of desertification?
Sand and dust storms have increased to about 25% between the late 19th century to present. Desertification causes loose sand and dust to be lifted by the wind, which results in a sand/dust storm.
How can we solve this problem?
We could plant more trees since the roots can hold the soil together and help reduce soil erosion from the wind and the rain.
Encourage people to grow crops instead of using grazing animals.
Minimize water loss by using drip irrigation systems where the water could drip slowly onto the soil from a hose and lie on top of the sod.
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