For comparison, it is the same size like the area of New York State turning in desert just within a year [3]. Eventually, the land will become so dry and devoid of vegetation that it will be classified as a desert. Desertification is the ongoing process of dry ecosystem degradation due to human mismanagement, a process which started with the beginning of human civilization and continues to this day. For example, the destruction of the native tropical forest in the Indus Valley opened up a pathway for the desert to claim more and more land, leading to the doom of the Harrapan Civilization. In recent years, the desert has advanced southward to lake Chad, which used to be an important source of water and livelihood for 30 million people from eight African countries, but dramatic declines in water level due to droughts and loss of land to desertification have brought only insecurity and suffering upon these communities [16]. Salt buildup on cultivated lands, then, makes it difficult for crops and other plants to grow, further exacerbating degradation of these lands. How does desertification affect China? The Sahel is a region just south of the . However, humid zones can also undergo desertification-like degradation with the cumulative effects of human impacts (Figure 8.2; Pretty much every continent has some dryland area that is currently threatened by desertification if no immediate preventative measures will be taken. Deforestation is one of the leading human causes of desertification. As you may have noticed, desertification problems are often related and lead to one another. - Definition, Causes & Effects, How are Volcanic Mountains Formed? … As of 2010, 57% of its territory, or 2.97 million hectares, had been affected by desertification. What is meant by desertification? Desertification also increases vulnerability of whole regions to the unpredictable effects of climate change. Drought can cause crop failures. These changes have led to the emergence of large-scale environmental hazards to . Through inconsiderate farming methods like heavy tilling, planting of unsuitable crops and leaving soils exposed to wind and rain erosion, farmers only speed up the process of desertification in exchange for poor quality crops with low economic value. "The strategic U.S. military base on the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia faces submergence by rising sea level. But the effects of desertification are also felt by millions of people living far from the immediate dryland zones. Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. Drylands are already fragile. 1. Desertification reduces the ability of land to support life, affecting wild species, domestic animals, agricultural crops and people. Since dust storms are a contributors to the spreading of desertification this could also affect human health. They are the ones who have seen the ugly face of desertification slowly reaching their doorstep, and they are the ones who are also witnessing how fast sand and dust consume even more land every year. Inhabitants of the Aral Sea region are well-familiar with this problem. You often hear about temperature changes, sea level rising, and shifting climate zones. Also, people should stop contributing to quickening the process of this phenomenon. We are working hard to improve our content. Global area affected by moderate and severe drought in 2017 was closer to the long-term average. Unfortunately, outcomes of their compromised livelihoods are often poor land use practices, such as grazing animals on eroding lands, illegal cutting of forests and unsustainable crop cultivation, which only contribute to the soil destruction beyond repair and put lives of people even more in danger. Increased quantity of dust. Areas that are several miles away from these arid areas can also be impacted by the issues of desertification. More people means higher demand for natural resources (including water(!) This is exactly what has been happening in the Sahel. Plant C:N:P stoichiometric ratio responses to desertification. Describe how the process of erosion leads to a loss of water-holding capacity and, hence, to desertification. As large amounts of forests are cleared away, allowing exposed earth to whither and die and the habitats of innumerable species to be destroyed, the indigenous communities who live there and depend on the forest to sustain their way of life are also under threat. Read more about us. It states that desertification means "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities". What are drylands? Humans can accelerate this process by overgrazing, poor irrigation techniques, diverting rivers, and deforestation. While the main reason for desertification of the Sahara lies in slight changes of the Earth’s orbit, which affected the intensity of the monsoonal rains in the area, early farmers might have been to blame as well. Superb Article . The region currently faces extensive desertification caused by numerous factors. and space to grow food and build settlements. A conceptual framework that allows comparing the costs of action against land degradation versus the costs of inaction is provided in this book. In many cases, increased water runoff from desertified areas wreaks havoc on neighboring lands, eroding soils, damaging vegetation and making soils extremely vulnerable to encroaching desert. We should not forget that most of the human settlements were built along fertile soils, rivers, or other resourceful places that offered some great advantage to their inhabitants. If they fail to do so, they will become extinct for their inability to cope with a sudden change of their environment. They receive less than 60 cm (about 24 inches) of rain each year, and thus they are at the margin of what . It draws heavily from the chapters of our Dahlem book, Global Desertification. Desertification is a process of degradation of the land. With less permanent vegetation that would help retain moisture in soils and with less moisture evaporating into the air from plants, less clouds form in that particular area. Additionally, by 2050 about 9 billion people will be dependent on worsening food conditions. How do humans affect desertification? As “harsh” as this may sound, the reason is very simple. As desertification occurs, this most productive layer of the soil gets blown or washed away from the surface rather quickly because there is no vegetation that would protect it, and nutrients with organic material are lost for good. Sadly, the very same process continues to threaten the existence of at least 1.5 billion people (mainly from developing countries) until the present day [1]. Throughout history people have associated desertification with overgrazing by too many livestock. Due to unrestricted grazing of the steppe by livestock combined with the influence of climate change, Syrian land has become so damaged that it has turn into lifeless dust. The effects of climate change on humans are far reaching and include effects on health, environment, displacement , migration, security, society, human settlement, energy, and transport. This book describes the common psychiatric conditions, their key features and how they may influence cardiovascular disease, outcomes, and quality of life. Home. This large issue is a global problem that must be combated. Plants and animals are both affected by desertification because they are losing their habitats to this dreadful process. Desertification is a global issue, with serious implications worldwide for biodiversity, eco-safety, poverty eradication, socio-economic stability and sustainable development. The reduction of plant cover and the removal of plants lead to severe soil erosion. Desertification causes increased levels of migration. What is the impact of humans on the desert? Lower water levels in reservoirs, lakes, and ponds. In 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, also known as the UNCCD, was established. The loss of fertile land to desertification has brought an end to many majestic civilizations throughout the human history. Species that once lived in a fertile and productive climate may not survive in a newly desertified region. Desertification has played a major part in much of recent human history (last 10,000 or so years). The Aral Sea used to be the world’s fourth largest saline lake until 1960s, when the Soviet government diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, which have been feeding the lake with fresh water. One third of the land surface on Earth has fallen victim to desertification and according to the estimates, another 12 million hectares (approx. By Grace Hershey Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. It's contributed to the collapse of many major civilizations and empires — from Carthage, to the Harappan Civilization, to Ancient Greece, to the Roman Empire, to Ancient China, etc. The document further goes on examining the serious and complex web of problems that have arisen from worsening land degradation of the earth’s drylands, which are home to 2,000 million people, comprise of 44 percent of all the world’s cultivated land and should sustain 50 percent of the world’s livestock [13]. With significantly reduced rainfall, drought occurs and triggers problems such as failing harvests, drying creeks and boreholes, poor pasture that weakens livestock, and more frequent outbreaks of wildfires that destroy remaining vegetation. Approximately 60% of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth (such as fresh water, clean air and a relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used unsustainably. Desertification. 30 million acres) more turn into barren deserts every year [1,2]. The fertile top layer of soil will also start to blow away because the roots of the plants that used to hold the soil in place are no longer there. They work to improve the living conditions of people who live in areas at risk of desertification or areas where it has already occurred. During the rainy season, the vast grass plains turn lush green, providing a rich grazing opportunity to hundreds of thousands of the Africa’s most iconic herbivores, only to fade when the dry season comes. All rights reserved. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005a,b). Click to see full answer Considering this, what are the effects desertification? How does desertification affect people and the environment? Desertification does not just affect drylands. Lack of food and drinking water for wild animals. This is often done to make room for farming or housing for the growing human population. The reduction in plant cover that accompanies desertification leads to accelerated soil erosion by wind and water. | 13 Climate change, desertification and migration, while all separate issues in their own right, they are also increasingly entwined. Overgrazing and desertification have been always closely linked together. Where are they found and how important are they for human habitation and agriculture? Further, both natural variabilities in climate and global warming can also affect rainfall patterns around the world, which can contribute to desertification. Everyday, 32,000 hectares is lost to desertification. The 2000s drought in Australia, also known as the Millennium drought is said by some to be the worst drought recorded since European settlement. Desertification has played a major part in much of recent human history (last 10,000 or so years). According to the United Nations Convention, almost 135 million people may be displaced due to desertification by 2045. We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. This 2nd edition reflects major advances in our understanding of desertification over the past few years and has been thoroughly revised and expanded to almost twice its original size. Let’s have a look where it all started and what are the consequences. Download as PDF. The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people. In arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, deser- tification and drought are directly linked to food and water short- ages, conflicts, mass mi- gration, increased risk of fires and limited access to health care. The link between soil erosion and other consequences of desertification only confirms this, as erosion is another negative outcome but also a catalyst of previously mentioned problems. You should have the ability to do the following after watching this video lesson: To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. After some time, no vegetation remains to prevent soil from blowing or washing away. Assessments of the extent of desertification vary, but even by conservative estimates it ranks among today's greatest environmental challenges with serious local and global impacts. Bad things like prolonged episodes of famine, diseases from water scarcity, fights for thinning resources and death of people, children, animals. One of the latest humanitarian crises has been declared in countries that have been dependent upon resources provided by lake Chad, where lake water gets quickly replaced by inhospitable sand dunes, destroying fishing and farming communities. Desertification is a land degradation process that occurs in drylands. "--The Washington Post "The Uninhabitable Earth, which has become a best seller, taps into the underlying emotion of the day: fear. . . . I encourage people to read this book."--Alan Weisman, The New York Review of Books 1. Its drivers are related to both human activity and the climate, and depend on the specific context. Humans often divert rivers from their natural path in order to use the water for agriculture. Who is affected by desertification, and what are the major causes of desertification? It makes a dramatic contribution to water scarcity, with internal population movements, migrations, and social class gaps. According to model simulations ran by the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the end of the Mayan empire probably happened due to prolonged droughts caused by cutting down the rainforest to expand their cities and plant crops to feed their growing population [9]. Human activities that contribute to desertification include the expansion and intensive use of agricultural lands, poor irrigation practices, deforestation, and overgrazing. This second edition of Ecology of Desert Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the complex interactions involved in these areas. It means that the effects of desertification can be extremely serious and not only for us, but for the balance of the whole planet. Found inside – Page iS. A. ) and Chernobyl (U. S. S. R. ) nuclear accidents, Bhopal chemical accident (India), acid rain (Canada, U. S. A. ) and other technological disasters. Such hazards have snuffed out millions of lives, infli Grassland desertification had a significant effect on the C:N, N:P, and C:P ratios of the leaf, litter and root (Fig. The process of desertification is permanent and cannot be reversed naturally. According to the newest data, the Sahara Desert has been gradually spreading over the grasslands in the neighboring Sahel area. Most of the affected countries are located in Africa, particularly across the Sahel region, South Africa, and East Africa. For example, China’s autonomous region of Ningxia owes its existence to the Yellow River, which has been the only life giver to communities of rice farmers in this arid land that is encircled by sand dunes. This book will offer many pointers for maintaining and developing the UN as a vital instrument for humanity in the coming decades. This list of causes and impacts of desertification is just a brief fraction of the whole scope of such an extensive problem taking place on our lands every day. This in turn affects the changes in climate zones in various regions. The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people. Found insideThis book will address the impact of changing climatic conditions on various beneficial interactions operational in soil systems and recommend suitable strategies for maintaining such interactions. The less land available to humans, the more we'll exploit it. Unable to grow crops, farmers had to leave their villages in search of better lands. This means that the original ecosystem of these lands is well-adapted to withstand dry seasons during which plants enter so called summer dormancy, a temporary cessation of growth, in order to preserve themselves, only to turn green and strong as soon as rains come again. When the trees are cut down, there are no trees to keep the soil in place, and it becomes a target for erosion. When they are cut down from humans this increases the possibility of desertification happening. After all, history tends to repeat itself, so perhaps the story of the Maya could serve as a warning sign for us. If biodiverse ecosystems disappear, we will be left with pollution, drought, hunger and lack of resources. It's contributed to the collapse of many major civilizations and empires — from Carthage, to the Harappan Civilization, to Ancient Greece, to the Roman Empire, to Ancient China, etc. In many instances, these people go to larger cities, hoping for better life by finding a new livelihood. Many of these are caused by diseases, algal blooms, insects, animals, species extinction, deforestation, land degradation, and comet and asteroid strikes that have important implications for humans. It usually affects dry areas on the edge of deserts, eg The Sahel, south of the Sahara Desert in . Found insideThis long-awaited book brings this field into its own as a unifying force in ecology and evolution. China is severely affected by desertification, with more than a quarter of its territory covered in desert. In November 2016, Guardian published an article with the title “We have been almost buried: the Sudanese villages being swallowed by sand.” The article goes on describing the struggles of villages in Sudan’s River Nile State that have succumbed to desertification after years of extensive deforestation and worsening droughts. The official definition by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) that has been widely used since it’s formulation in 1994 is: “desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic fluctuations and human activities.” UNCCD also highlights that it is important to note that desertification is not a natural process of deserts expanding to new regions, it is a form of land degradation caused primarily by human activity in vulnerable areas. Topsoil is crucial for plant growth because it contains most of the organic matter and 50 percent of important nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium. This leads to increased sedimentation and eutrophication–both processes disturb aquatic ecosystems and deteriorate water quality. Additionally, artificially added water also rises otherwise low groundwater level which in turn dissolves even more salts [7]. Land degradation due to urbanization has affected strongly many countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Spain and other places with hot climate, where urban and tourist areas spread along the rivers or coastlines, sealing these lands and pushing farming away onto marginal lands, which will only accelerate their desertification over the time [11]. Drought can cause forests to become shrublands, shrublands to become grasslands, and grasslands to become desserts. Barren soils lack this green filter, and therefore, many harmful substances enter groundwater reservoirs or easily wash off into lakes and rivers. Humans affect the Sahara Desert by causing global climate change, which in turn causes the Sahara to spread. With plants dying, already scarce rainwater gets washed away instead of being drawn into the soil, which only scales up the problem as remaining plants do not have enough moisture to survive dry spells as they used to. Iran is a country that has been suffering of this problem. Since 1990s, when the lack of jobs due to the breakup of the Soviet Union forced people to rear livestock as their only possibility to earn money [6]. Our goal is to inspire people to change their attitudes and behaviors toward a more sustainable life. There are many historical accounts of how various people groups throughout human history experienced collapse of their civilization as drought and desertification occurred to their lands. Vegetation plays an important role in cleaning our water. Some of these families then end up living in poverty in slums. Besides constantly eroding soils by creating gullies and channels each time it rains, water also picks up loosen soil particles and transports them into water bodies. How can overgrazing lead to soil erosion? Desertification is the end result of the available rainfall becoming increasingly less effective. If desertification continues, people may be forced to move away from warmer regions where desertification is more likely and closer to polar regions in order to find land that is habitable and fertile. Populations move to find land that can provide the food and water they need. succeed. Unfortunately, due to the unsustainable water management of diverting water to rice paddies, soil salinity has increased, forcing farmers to use high amounts of fertilizer to save their harvest. This volume deals with land degradation, which is occurring in almost all terrestrial biomes and agro-ecologies, in both low and high income countries and is stretching to about 30% of the total global land area. This book examines the impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystems. Unfortunately, desertification is a proof that in some places, we have reached this tipping point. Desertification basically limits the land's capacity of supporting life. Therefore, it is important to realize after reading this article how valuable soil conservation is. Desertification is the spread of desert-like conditions in arid and semi-arid conditions. People have been always on the lookout for fertile lands where they can build their settlements and prosper over long time periods. Such declines may be the result of climate change, deforestation, overgrazing, poverty, political instability, unsustainable irrigation practices, or combinations of these factors. Migration of wildlife. Using yoga to supplement your studies, Blues and Burnout: How to keep happy and energised this exam season, The Distinction between Word and jpg file – Use an Online Converter to Transform JPG to Word, What Are PSP ISOS And How To Install And Operate, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at University, E-books – The Seven E’s: A Librarian’s Perspective, Lockdown Library: Some ‘can-do’ solutions to things students can’t do. Despite these consequences, people think that deforestation is an agricultural investment. Desertification is often caused by human activities. Lands turn to desert due to a number of reasons, but much of the desertification that is occurring around the world today is caused by human activity on lands that are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and improper agricultural methods. Its drivers are related to both human activity and the climate,and depend on the Once this top layer of soil is removed, the land will no longer be fertile and will be unable to support the growth of vegetation. This area will no longer have a water supply, and vegetation will likely die off and lead to desert conditions. As forests are destroyed, poor people often lose access to the forest goods and services they depend on. The problem of worsening desertification doesn’t have to be linked only to agricultural lands, unsustainable water management happens even in cities and tourist destinations that are build in arid or semi-arid areas. Desertification has been described as the "the greatest environmental challenge of our time" and climate change is making it worse. This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report (IPCC-SREX) explores the challenge of understanding and managing the risks of climate extremes to advance climate change adaptation. Desertification is defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from temporary climatic crises, especially droughts that occur periodically, and harmful human activities in vulnerable ecosystems. Impacts can range, from flooding to dust storms, in several non-dryland areas. What effect does desertification on human health? (2002), and considers non-linear processes, resilience, vulnerability, traditional range ecology, human perceptions, panarchy theory, social structures, economic factors, and so on. Deforestation is the process of removing trees and transforming a forest into cleared land. How does desertification affect the environment? And together with ecosystems disappear even natural resources that were once present. Already registered? This book explores the environmental competitiveness of 133 countries around the world, presenting an index evaluation system to facilitate a comparative analysis of environmental competitiveness on a global scale. According to a new hypothesis, scientists believe that herds of domestic goats and vegetation burning to cultivate grasslands of the previously green Sahara could have sped up the process of drying up. There have been many records of water scarcity and pollution problems that are linked to desertification or other forms of land degradation across dry African and Asian countries. Once the soil is degraded and the precious nutrients are lost, only infertile and lifeless swaths of land are left behind. Human activities that contribute to desertification include the expansion and intensive use of agricultural lands, poor irrigation practices, deforestation, and overgrazing. Reduced soil quality. There is probably no need to explain how crucial these services are for our wellbeing. These irrigation methods often lead to a buildup of salt in soils. Water infrastructure such as dams and conveyance pipelines will be developed to redistribute water over time and space; Review and promulgate restrictions within the legislation to restore and protect ecological infrastructure; and. The world’s drylands cover approximately 40 percent of the total land mass. A sad example of the destructive power of such a mismanagement is the drying out of the Aral Sea. The dust storms can cause eye infections and even problems to the human respiratory system. For example, up to 50 percent of the Canadian Prairies spreading over Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are likely to battle with some of the negative effects of desertification in the upcoming years. Take a breather! While this sustained, human-caused warming can by itself add to heat stress faced by vegetation, it is also linked to worsening extreme weather events like Floods, Droughts, Landslides. Countries affected by desertification do not have to be located only in hot regions of the world because it is the local climate and land use that shape the health of the land. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Another common problem of the crop cultivation in vulnerable areas is the employment of improper irrigation methods, such as canal irrigation. Land degradation is a consequence of socioeconomic, demographic and climatic factors that, together, have harmful and far-reaching effects on environmental and human welfare. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, as they often lack the skills that are needed for urban jobs. These unsustainable land uses place enormous pressure on the land by altering its soil chemistry and hydrology. This will reduce fertility of the land because the top layer of soil that will be blown away by wind is often the richest in nutrients. Do Humans Cause Deserts? That doesn’t sounds like such a bright future, does it? Defined by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities", there are very few countries… The same happens even at this very moment and will be happening in the future. Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. They now cover about 5 million square km (about 2 million square miles) and account for roughly one-third of all croplands worldwide. 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In need runoff, human, animal, and to provide you with advertising... Of infertile, desert-like terrain that was previously productive farmland, savannas or woodlands estimates that advancing could! Local scale where large pores and soil aggregates form, it leads to extensive desertification caused by numerous factors issue... Oxygen to breathe, clean water to support human communities and ecosystem quizzes, and to their. Often help hold soil in place a single storm overestimation of the growing desert water supply in the to... Lack this green filter, and vegetation will likely die off and lead to severe soil erosion is often of..., does it on Indigenous people Destruction of Homelands uses cookies to improve the living of. The affected countries are located in Africa, particularly across the Sahel, south of the desert... Causes of desertification this could also affect human health for nearly a decade now [ 18,19,20 ] services! 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