Animalscaretips
- Why is desertification an important concern?
- Why is desertification increasing?
- Why is the problem of desertification getting worse?
- What are the future impacts of desertification?
- How does desertification affect people's lives?
- How can the risk of desertification be reduced?
- What will happen if desertification continues?
- What are the negative impact that desertification has on economy?
- How can climate change increase the risk of desertification?
- Is desertification a major threat to the environment?
- How does climate change affect the land?
- What are the impacts of overgrazing?
- What areas are at risk of desertification?
- Where the risk of desertification is in Africa?
- How does desertification affect biodiversity?
Why is desertification an important concern?
Desertification affects topsoil, groundwater reserves, surface runoff, human, animal, and plant populations. Water scarcity in drylands limits the production of wood, crops, forage, and other services that ecosystems provide to our community.
Why is desertification increasing?
Human activities that contribute to desertification include the expansion and intensive use of agricultural lands, poor irrigation practices, deforestation, and overgrazing. ... A rise in global temperatures is likely to accelerate the process of desertification as evaporation rates increase.
Why is the problem of desertification getting worse?
This degradation tends to be driven by a number of factors, including urbanization, mining, farming, and ranching. In the course of these activities, trees and other vegetation are cleared away, animal hooves pound the dirt, and crops deplete nutrients in the soil.
What are the future impacts of desertification?
"Population growth and increase in food demand will drive expansion and intensification of cultivated lands. If unchecked, desertification and degradation of ecosystem services in drylands will threaten future improvements in human well-being and possibly reverse gains in some regions."
How does desertification affect people's lives?
Land degradation and desertification can affect human health through complex pathways. As land is degraded and deserts expand in some places, food production is reduced, water sources dry up and populations are pressured to move to more hospitable areas. ... the spread of infectious diseases as populations migrate.
How can the risk of desertification be reduced?
Desertification can be reduced by adopting the following strategies: Planting more trees - the roots of trees hold the soil together and help to reduce soil erosion from wind and rain. ... Water management - water can be stored in earth dams in the wet season and used to irrigate crops during the dry season.
What will happen if desertification continues?
Across the world, desertification affects the livelihoods of millions of people who rely on the benefits that dryland ecosystems can provide. ... Some 10 to 20% of drylands are already degraded, and ongoing desertification threatens the world's poorest populations and the prospects of poverty reduction.
What are the negative impact that desertification has on economy?
The impact of desertification on the socio-economic life of rural households leads to reduction in crop and animal production, as well as causing, livestock deaths and rise in the prices of foodstuffs.
How can climate change increase the risk of desertification?
Both natural variability in climate and global warming can also affect rainfall patterns around the world, which can contribute to desertification. ... And a warmer climate can speed up the decomposition of organic carbon in soils, leaving them depleted and less able to retain water and nutrients.
Is desertification a major threat to the environment?
Desertification and land degradation is "the greatest environmental challenge of our time" and "a threat to global wellbeing", according to the UN's top drylands official, who says people must be paid via global carbon markets for preserving the soil.
How does climate change affect the land?
Increased heat, drought and insect outbreaks, all linked to climate change, have increased wildfires. Declining water supplies, reduced agricultural yields, health impacts in cities due to heat, and flooding and erosion in coastal areas are additional concerns.
What are the impacts of overgrazing?
Overgrazing reduces the usefulness, productivity, and biodiversity of the land and is one cause of desertification and erosion. Overgrazing is also seen as a cause of the spread of invasive species of non-native plants and of weeds.
What areas are at risk of desertification?
A recently published JRC study identified the following geographic regions as prone to desertification: north-eastern Brazil, south-western Argentina, the southern Sahel, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Sub-Himalayan India, and north-eastern China.
Where the risk of desertification is in Africa?
Practically every country of Africa is prone to desertification, but the Sahelian countries at the southern fringe of the Sahara are particularly vulnerable.
How does desertification affect biodiversity?
Land degradation typically results in biodiversity being lost. As habitats degrade they become less able to support biodiversity, with badly degraded habitats typically having a reduced biodiversity, or a biodiversity that is shifted to early successional species.
