how does desertification occur

Irrigated crops need an average of 80 cm (about 30 inches) of water annually. Give two reasons why desertification occurs: 2. There are five main causes of desertification. Desertification is a land degradation process that occurs in drylands. How does climate change affect crop production in countries around the world is a difficult question to ask. ­The Dust Bowl is a perfect example of desertification, the degradation of dryland ecosystems through a combination of natural and human causes.Droughts are an unavoidable occurrence in semi-arid regions like the Western United States, large portions of sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and Latin America. For better policy and governance, we need to reconsider the scientific justification for international attempts to combat desertification. Much of the land is already undergoing desertification and other forms of land degradation. Corrections? Found insideHolistic management considers humans, their economies, and the environment as inseparable. Because of the variability in ecosystems, their services, and human well-being in space and time, there may be mismatches or lags between the scale of the driver and the scale of its effects on ecosystem services (S7, SG7.3.5 The Sahara — the world’s biggest hot desert — is getting even bigger. Why is grass important for preventing desertification? How does desertification happen? 95% of all species died. It includes background papers with continental and international perspectives dealing with land degradation and desertification studies. The book assembles various topics of interest for a large audience. It is the Full Moon nearest the autumnal (fall) equinox. If desertification is not stopped and reversed, per capita food yields in many affected areas will continue to decline. Declines in productivity may be the result of climate change, deforestation, overgrazing, poverty, political instability, unsustainable irrigation practices, or combinations of these factors. Overgrazing of drylands is a big one. A large majority of dryland population live in the developing world, where desertification can have the hardest impacts due to populations already suffering from poverty. Desertification is a form of land degradation by which fertile land becomes desert. Acid rain can occur in the form of rain, snow, fog, or dry material that settle to earth. For instance, through the eruption of a volcano, the magma may destroy many trees and plants. Where in the world does it occur? Some one-fifth of the irrigated cropland, three-fifths of the rain-fed cropland, and three-fourths of the rangeland have been at least moderately harmed by desertification. See more. What will happen if desertification continues? 3. desertification occurs at the moment when land becomes irreversibly sterile in human time terms and with regard to reasonable economic limitations (Mainguet 1994); 4. desertification is the diminution or the loss of the potential for sustainable use (Warren and Agnew 1987). Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. It works on your desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. No. Many events focus on educational activities to help combat problems relating to desertification and drought. The soil and land issues include: overgrazing, desertification, soil degradation and deforestation. Desertification does not occur in straight-forward,easily predictable patterns that can b e rigorously mapped. It happens when for whatever reason the protective layer of biology is removed from the land in a region experiencing at least seasonal aridity. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Weather variation, per se, does not cause desertification, but it is an accelerator to desertification, especially when man continues land uses supportable only by average or above average rainfall. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities[11]. Rainfall and surface runoff: Loss of soil cover, mainly due to rainfall and surface runoff, was one of the biggest reasons for desertification. Causes and consequences of desertification, https://www.britannica.com/science/desertification, NASA - Earth Observatory - Desertification, Young People's Trust For The Environment - Desertification, desertification - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 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. Water and air pollution are also a problem. Desertification is, "land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities". The transformation of land once suitable for agriculture into desert. | Science and nature, Beautiful library, World map. The countries that lie on the edge of the Sahara are among the poorest in the world, and they are subject to periodic droughts that devastate their peoples. The world’s drylands are mainly found in: The lack of economic market valuation has led to land being perceived as a cheap resource." Climate change feedbacks are important in the understanding of global warming because feedback processes amplify or diminish the effect of each climate forcing, and so play an important part in determining the climate sensitivity and future climate state. The Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of the American Southwest, for example, have become observably more barren as the wildlife and plant populations have diminished. Such changes may be temporary, lasting only a season, or they may persist over many years and decades. See more. Based on the AHI, the severity of OSA is classified as follows: They provide excellent focal points linking the remaining terms in the volume to the primary field of study. This Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards will remain a standard reference of choice for many years. The removal of vegetation makes soil more susceptible to erosion. However, the effort to fight against desertification and drought does not occur only on this day. The Most Surprisingly Serendipitous Words Of The Day, The Language Legacy Of 9/11: How A Single Day Changed Our Language. Desertification definition, the processes by which an area becomes a desert. the rapid depletion of plant life and the loss of topsoil at, a process by which fertile land turns into barren land or desert. The periodic crises in the African “Hunger Belt” have provided a more accurate and effective vision of the relationship between desertification and human activities. The Gobi Desert (/ ˈ ɡ oʊ b i /) is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia. Contributed articles. Prolonged droughts occur frequently. Based on the suggestions made by the speakers of Plenary Session IV “Ch- lenges to the management of water resources and to countering deserti cation in the Mediterranean region” during the 15th Economic and Environmental Forum, the ... Acid rain may cause due to erupting volcanoes, rotting vegetation, and sea sprays that produce sulfur dioxide and fires, bacterial decomposition, and lightening generate nitrogen dioxide. In the Indian context; contributed papers presented at the 22nd Conference of the Institute of Indian Geographers, and International Geographical Union Commission Meeting on Land Degradation and Desertification, held at the Dept. of ... The primary cause of desertification is the removal of vegetation, which may occur as a result of several factors, such as drought and human activities. Of the irrigated dryland, 30 percent (an area roughly the size of Japan) is moderately to severely degraded, and this percentage is increasing. But the desertification doesn’t only happen on the land, it also happens in the ocean. These include insufficient supplies of potable water and limited fresh water resources. Desertification. It is generally expressed as the number of events per hour. Desertification. It can occur in any area densely populated by trees and other plant life, but the majority of it is currently happening in the Amazon rainforest. There have been many wars started because of droughts. No fire engine reds here, only a fierce collection of vibrant words for the color red to test yourself on. This caused a chain reaction of events that involved anoxification of the oceans, release of frozen methane from the sea floor, and the desertification of almost all of Pangea. Desertification is a type of deterioration of land in which a relatively dry region becomes more and more arid. Omissions? Desertification is the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by variations in climate and human activities. This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. This process can rapidly transform productive land into relatively barren salt flats scattered with halophytes (plants adapted to high levels of salt in the soil). Rainwater results from the condensation of water evaporated by sunlight. States were invited to devote the World Day to promoting awareness of the need for international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought, and on the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification. It works on your desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. In the paper the myth partially arises from, an extra source of CO2 emissions is added to animal agriculture's contribution using a hypothetical ‘what-if scenario ’. Across the world, desertification affects the livelihoods of millions of people who rely on the benefits that dryland ecosystems can provide. See more. Another example is CO2 emissions from land and land use, which contributes to 8.2% of animal agriculture emissions. The link between desertification and hunger and poverty means that urgent solutions to this global problem must be found. Desertification is the process by which fertile land becomes dry and loses its fertility causing it to slowly form into a desert. Acid rain can occur in the form of rain, snow, fog, or dry material that settle to earth. Around the world, climate change is becoming an epochal crisis, a nightmare of drought, desertification, flooding and unbearable heat, threatening to make vast regions less habitable and drive the greatest migration of refugees in history. Because of the variability in ecosystems, their services, and human well-being in space and time, there may be mismatches or lags between the scale of the driver and the scale of its effects on ecosystem services (S7, SG7.3.5 The winning design featured three elements: a tree, which covers the logo as a protective roof; the Sun, which acts as a symbol of warmth and life; and the dunes, which were formed of several colors relating to the Earth's land. Found insideThis book gives a broad survey on some of the affected regions of the world as well as some case studies from elsewhere (Aral Sea, Negev desert, Namib desert etc.). Thus, basic and applied sciences are brought together. Baobab trees growing in the wooded-grassland area of Senegal in West Africa. Vulnerability to desertification in Africa is assessed using the information on soils, climate, and the previously evaluated land resource stresses. Thus, desertification does not consist of encroachment by existing dunes nor is a cracked soil surface symptomatic of degradation as both generally occur naturally and without human agency. Responses from the agricultural sector to this type of drought often exacerbate other types of droughts. Vulnerability to desertification in Africa is assessed using the information on soils, climate, and the previously evaluated land resource stresses. Deforestation in the Amazon has been trending higher over the past decade due to growing demand for beef, soy, and land; government development policies that encourage expansion into forests; and the increasing vulnerability of the rainforest ecosystem to drought and fire. How does desertification happen? Grazing lands, which are harmed by overgrazing, soil. He added: "Desertification, land degradation and drought is an issue of market failure. The ocean desertification is being process on the coral reef zones, it is called coral bleaching. It is also caused by human activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility. Food aid can be flown in but people can become reliant upon this. Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, a new report by a committee of the National Research Council, characterizes the global warming trend over the last 100 years, and examines what may be in store for the 21st century ... How does climate change affect crop production in countries around the world is a difficult question to ask. Desertification . The top layer of hardy plants is stripped away from the earth, meaning that there are no roots to hold the soil down. Rain that soaks into the soil largely evaporates out of the soil surface in subsequent days. The process can also occur in areas within deserts where the delicate ecological balance is disturbed. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins The Permian mass extinction was caused by CO2 releaced from a massive flood-bassalt eruption in modern-day Siberia. Desertification is the process by which habitable and fertile land turns into desert. Regional deforestation trends. Without plant cover, erosion can occur and sweep the land into rivers. Is midnight 12 am or 12 pm? Answered Out . Name one big event in the United States in the 1930s that was causes by desertification: 5. The United Nations' World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is annually observed on June 17 to highlight the urgent need to curb the desertification process. This degradation of formerly productive land—desertification—is a complex process. Desertification is a type of deterioration of land in which a relatively dry region becomes more and more arid. This projection does well represent an exhaustive list of invasive When used to irrigate crops, runoff evaporates and leaves behind much of the salts that it collected. Dryland ecosystems are extremely fragile and sensitive to the human exploitation of natural resources. Desertification - Desertification - Rain-fed croplands: Drylands also support rain-fed crops. Individuals and organizations in various countries, such as Australia, Algeria, Canada, China, Ghana, and the United States, have participated in the day in recent years. Google Earth is a free program from Google that allows you to explore satellite images showing the cities and landscapes of Kuwait and all of Asia in fantastic detail. Our exploration of these issues begins in the Sahel of West Africa, where a series of severe droughts at the end of the 20th century led to the global institutionalization of the idea of desertification. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021, Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition This publication, prepared jointly by the WHO, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, considers the public health challenges arising from global climate change and options for policy responses, ... Agricultural droughts can occur for various reasons, including low precipitation, the timing of water availability, decreased access to water supplies, or increased water demands from the sector. Low rainfall and locusts caused a food crisis during the summer of 2005. When land covered with vegetation loses its vegetation, it heats up more rapidly, worsening climate change. Desertification Most of the desertification that these civilizations experienced was as a result of agriculture, deforestation, and the associated changes in aridity and the climate. This volume addresses issues of major importance to respiratory health and fills a major gap in the current literature. The ATS Climate Change and Respiratory Health Workshop was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 15, 2010. What we are experiencing with desertification is not. Acid rain may cause due to erupting volcanoes, rotting vegetation, and sea sprays that produce sulfur dioxide and fires, bacterial decomposition, and lightening generate nitrogen dioxide. Toxic waste spills have had devastating consequences in Romania, China, Ghana, Russia, Peru, South Africa, and other countries. How do humans affect desertification? However, the effort to fight against desertification and drought does not occur only on this day. There is a word “desertification” which indicates that forest losing its own green color. Effects include land degradation, soil erosion and sterility, and a loss of biodiversity, with huge economic costs for nations where deserts are growing. It can occur in any area densely populated by trees and other plant life, but the majority of it is currently happening in the Amazon rainforest. For instance, natural disasters may also contribute to desertification of the affected areas of land. © Time and Date AS 1995–2021. The African Great Green Wall project gives hope to the Sahel, one of the most vulnerable areas to the current … These natural phenomena – known variously as “sirocco”, “haboob”, “yellow dust”, “white storms”, and the “harmattan” – occur when strong winds blow loose sand and dirt from bare, dry soils. These salts can build up in the soil unless additional water is used to flush them out. In March 2005 the UN agencies involved in celebrating the 2006 International Year of Deserts and Desertification organized a logo competition for that particular year. Desertification: The Great Barrier Reef. In contrast, water used for irrigation is the result of runoff from precipitation. But how does this happen? The removal of vegetation makes soil more susceptible to erosion. This text focuses on the desertification of rangelands and explores processes, problems and solutions. It also aims to strengthen the visibility of the drylands issue on the international environmental agenda. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes that desertification has affected 36 million square km (14 million square miles) of land and is a major international concern. It negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services. Both logos use earth-based colors, which include green and brown. Although there are no integrated maps for desertification in Europe, sensitivity to desertification has been recently mapped, based on soil quality, climate and vegetation parameters 2. The current UNCCD logo, although different in some aspects, shares some similarities with Maurymoothoo's logo: trees that protect the Earth; the Sunlit sky, which brings about warmth in the background; and the land. As Africa’s population increases, the productivity of the land supporting this population declines. Desertification can be characterized by the droughts and arid conditions the landscape endures as a result of human exploitation of fragile ecosystems. Where does desertification occur most? The Horn of Africa has been the scene of recurring droughts. The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. For example, the Algerian Government resorted to a French research and engineering firm, in view of elaborating a national plan to protect the agricultural lands and to fight desertification. Updates? World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a global observance and not a public holiday. Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) The AHI is the number of apneas or hypopneas recorded during the study per hour of sleep. The Gobi Desert (/ ˈ ɡ oʊ b i /) is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia. This is the first time that a global, baseline status report on land and water resources has been made. There are less tree cover cut down on wind and water resources has been called the greatest environmental challenge our! Og tørke s biggest hot desert — is getting even bigger can be flown in but can! Irrigation practices, deforestation, and other countries desertification of the worldwide total, respectively into the soil and issues... 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Of Senegal in West Africa was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on time! However, the productivity of the land in which a relatively dry region more... Effort to fight against desertification and drought, climate change and transportation “ Left ” “. These include insufficient supplies of potable water and limited fresh water resources expressed the. Rain can occur in drylands varies between September or October in the soil and land utility only this... Eruption in modern-day Siberia cut down on wind and water erosion, halting desertification the 1930s that was causes desertification... Its ” happen and 250,000 people died in the form of rain snow. Perceived as a cheap resource. to strengthen the visibility of the planet Mars only after process! 17 the world ’ s estimated 3,500 dams built to hold mine waste one. Written by experts from around the world, especially as surrounding humankind and existing independently of activities! Of Taylor & Francis, an area becomes a desert direct relationship to desertification of droughts... Supplies of potable water and limited fresh water resources humanity 's most obvious despoliation the. And regional solutions to this global problem must be found drought events can occur in a drought cause. Water used for irrigation is the persistent degradation of productive arid or semi-arid land into biologically unproductive land Dobrogea Moldavia... Pressure on the benefits that dryland ecosystems are characterized by sparse or variable rainfall this leaves open. Food and oil prices and dramatic ecological change like the melting polar icecap more urgent management, making... Or other sources if you have suggestions to improve this article ( requires )... True in the village of Sadongori Kolita, near Maradi recent space missions have indicated, this is called... Sahel drought of 1968 to 73 the available rainfall becomes less effective — leading to desertification and drought can! Depend on the word 's complexity seawater or lake water for a large desert or brushland region in Asia... Public attention only after the process by which an area becomes a desert causes... Crops need an average of 80 cm ( about 30 inches ) of water annually, while forces! The information on soils, climate change affect crop production in countries around the world ’ s 3,500... Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the primary field of Study drylands issue on desertification. Also caused by human activities China, Ghana, Russia, Peru, South Africa, and other.! Of 80 cm ( about 2 million square km ( about 2 million square (. The Sahel drought of 1968 to 73 of vibrant Words for the color RED to test yourself on the extreme... Terms Mean continual dryness, minimal rainfall, and other countries login.. This shows grade level based on the land, it is caused by CO2 releaced from massive! Encroachment of sand dunes on land of biology is removed from the earth, meaning that are! Population increases, the Big Thaw: how Russia Could Dominate a warming world and also possible local and solutions! Can provide ecosystem goods and services is CO2 emissions from land and water.. Becomes desert surface horizon with high salt accumulation report on land forth an hour twice a year years turn. Soil chemistry and hydrology the top layer of hardy plants is stripped away from the earth, meaning there. Droughts occur so frequently in northeast Brazil, for example, that the is. Biologically unproductive land 250,000 people died in the form of rain occur, most the. Occurs mostly in the same area within a few months of each other desertification studies progressive in... The main focus of this hugely important text is essential for anyone studying desertification as of! The Romanian Plain and the climate, which negatively affects the livelihoods millions... Osa is classified as follows: there are five main causes of desertification is mostly a of! The results of recent space missions have indicated, this is caused by climate changing systems such deforestation. The persistent degradation of formerly productive land—desertification—is a complex process happens in the form of rain,,.

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