Desertification

 Desertification

"More than 1.5 billion people are directly dependent on land that is slowly being degraded and around 12 million hectares of land are lost every year to desertification and drought." 

"Erosion, desertification, and pollution have become our lot. It is a weird form of suicide, for we are bleeding our planet to death." 

-Gerald Durrell

Desertification is known as the process by which natural or human causes have reduced the biological productivity of drylands. 

This may be due to climate change, deforestation, overgrazing, political instability, poverty, and unsustainable irrigation practices. 

An example is climactic changes that result in droughts which can reduce the biological productivity of ecosystems rapidly. 

The main causes of desertification can be classified into two categories which are climatic variations and human activities. 

Climatic variations include: 

• Climate change 
• Drought
• Moisture loss on a global level 

Human activities include:

• Burning of fossil fuels
• Overgrazing
• Deforestation 
• Removal of natural vegetation cover
• Farming practices 
• Excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides 
• Urbanization 
• Agricultural activities in vulnerable ecosystems may be triggered by population growth and poverty  

One of the most devastating effects of desertification is that farming becomes near impossible due to the degraded land quality. 

This leads to the decrease in the crop yields, as once land turns from arable to arid it cannot be used for farming purposes. 

This creates a chain of events that follow, such as farmers losing their livelihoods due to the loss in their source of income and long term could lead to food shortage due to a fall in the production of crops. 

Environmental effects of desertification include:

• Destruction of habitat 
• Biodiversity loss 
• Extinction and endangerment of species 

Furthermore, desertification may also lead to problems like flooding, overpopulation, flooding, and poverty. 

Policies to improve farming methods, such as how much one can farm in certain areas, and policy changes to other types of land use can help improve the situation of desertification.

Education of the severity of desertification and on sustainable farming practices, especially in developing countries, can also prove to be a helpful tool to aid in reducing desertification.

Other solutions to desertification include reforestation, restricting mining practices, technological advancements, and putting together rehabilitation efforts.

Desertification is a huge issue that requires our attention immediately, and if we allocate time now we can prevent the situation from worsening in the future.

Image:

https://youmatter.world/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/drought-desertification-increase-climate.jpg 

-Youmatter

https://cdn.downtoearth.org.in/library/large/2016-06-17/0.95416500_1466138410_desertification.jpg 

-Down To Earth 

Source:

https://www.unccd.int/actions/united-nations-decade-deserts-2010-2020-and-fight-against-desertification#:~:text=More%20than%201.5%20billion%20people,20%20million%20tons%20of%20grain. 

https://www.britannica.com/science/desertification

https://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/desert/download/p2.pdf

https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-desertification.php

https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-desertification-and-the-role-of-climate-change

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Desertification/desertification2.php

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