Loose soil buries plants or exposes their roots to the sun, so they cannot fulfill their function. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas (urbanisation), particularly in Africa. Desertification, the process by which natural or human causes reduce the biological productivity of drylands. This leads to increased sedimentation and eutrophication–both processes disturb aquatic ecosystems and deteriorate water quality. It is no wonder, that throughout history, desertification events have been a major driver behind migrations of large human populations. This problem becomes even worse when large areas of land that are currently used for farming will then no longer be suitable for farming due to a lack of water triggered by global warming. (And Is It Bad For Environment), Are Solar Panels Recyclable? Read more about us. The causes of desertification. Human hands or natural occurrences can exacerbate or spark desertification. If an area becomes a desert, then it’s almost impossible to grow substantial crops there without special technologies. In turn, many farmers may lose their livelihood, since they often solely rely on farming as their single source of income. The Eurocentric view of … 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. According to expert opinions from FAO and UN, this high level of land loss to desertification is what has triggered a civil war in the country. By stripping the soil of its nutrients, desertification becomes more of a reality for the area that is being used for farming. Quick Navigation for The Major Causes and Effects of Desertification, [1] https://www.un.org/press/en/2012/gaef3352.doc.htm. 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. Be it true or not, unfavorable conditions still forced early people to leave their homes and everything they were familiar with. These places often draw high amounts of groundwater from natural aquifers, not letting them naturally replenish and eventually facing water scarcity just like Cape Town in South Africa. In those cases, there isn’t a lot that people can do except work to try and help rehabilitate the land after it has already been damaged by nature. For comparison, it is the same size like the area of New York State turning in desert just within a year [3]. When people gather and keep too many animals in one area, grasses start dying because their roots are often weakened by animals constantly stepping on them and plucking out newly re-growing parts before plants have time to grow resistant enough and to multiply. However, the main reason why desertification goes widely unnoticed is that 90 percent of people affected by this phenomenon currently live in developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, and belong to the world’s poorest [4]. Inhabitants of the Aral Sea region are well-familiar with this problem. After all, history tends to repeat itself, so perhaps the story of the Maya could serve as a warning sign for us. Now that we know what causes desertification, here are five of its effects – all of them are negative. And what’s more, without trees, even the local climate becomes drier due to the lack of water evapotranspiration from tree canopy, which reduces cloud formation in the region and results in less rain. – Gunther Grass. Land desertification, species extinction and climate transformation, these three problems all are a long term problem to the world. This process can happen due to a number of reasons, but much of the desertification that is occurring around the world today is caused by human activity, such as deforestation or improper agricultural methods. What is the key to their success?https://t.co/179Z5AnYTw pic.twitter.com/Qw7hXuBBQK. 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. The loss of land to desertification has major impact on many places on our planet today and is expected to affect humanity even more in the future as population numbers will grow bigger and the availability of natural resources will decline. Do you know what that means? Pretty much every continent has some dryland area that is currently threatened by desertification if no immediate preventative measures will be taken. Putting Together Rehabilitation Efforts, 8. When this happens, weakening soils get also directly exposed to wind, which often picks up last pieces of drying topsoil and mixes them with dust from already degraded parts, exacerbating the problem and creating far-reaching dust storms. The loss of fertile land to desertification has brought an end to many majestic civilizations throughout the human history. Bad things like prolonged episodes of famine, diseases from water scarcity, fights for thinning resources and death of people, children, animals. In turn, many farmers may lose their livelihood, since they often solely rely on farming as their single source of income. Another common problem of the crop cultivation in vulnerable areas is the employment of improper irrigation methods, such as canal irrigation. Desertification reduces the ability of land to support plant life. The policy changes could be sweeping or they could be depending on the type of land use at hand. With a changing ecosystem, species must adapt to their new climate or migrate to a more favorable climate. One region of the world that has seen many of these negative effects combined is Sub-Saharan Africa. And globally, the risk of losing more land is getting higher with increasing summer temperatures and less frequent and erratic rain patterns we are experiencing in the last years. Therefore, planting trees in the affected areas not only prevents desertification but also fights against additional environmental issues. 1. Desertification often leads to a loss of habitats for many animals and plants. This is another very alarming aspect of the desertification problem, because we need biodiverse ecosystems to survive. Populations move to find land that can provide the food and water they need. Why Is Biodiversity Important to Ecosystems. The environment (the Earth) is the place we call home. However in the long run the soil would gradually lose its nutrients, land is degraded and desertification creeps in. 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]. It is caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities. If biodiverse ecosystems disappear, we will be left with pollution, drought, hunger and lack of resources. “Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. So much could be written about the effects of climate change on the health of our lands, as climate change can lead to land degradation for many reasons, and it is very often climate change that exacerbates the progress of desertification in increasingly many places. If they fail to do so, they will become extinct for their inability to cope with a sudden change of their environment. A long-term change in climate could make an area more desert-like without human intervention, but so far there is no evidence to support that this is happening. In drier areas, the experience is even worse as a large percentage of pasture and land cover is destroyed, contributing to the relentless progression of desertification. And when you think about it, it’s just a natural reaction of any living organism to survive – “fight or flight.”. 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. Most of the agricultural land in the country has increased salinity due to large-scale irrigation plans and progressively drier climate. This is because plant life plays a significant role in keeping the water clean and clear; without its presence, it becomes a lot more difficult for you to be able to do that. If there are too many animals that are overgrazing in certain spots, it makes it difficult for the plants to grow back, which hurts the biome and makes it lose its former green glory. The most important reason that cause of desertification is deforestation. Once the overexploitation takes place, desertification often follows, leaving behind only barren land and misery for those who haven’t left. Once land turns from arable to arid, it is often on longer suitable for farming purposes anymore. 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. They may essentially strip the land of everything that it has before moving on to another plot of land. By the time most of the natural resources have been extracted, and mining practices are no more profitable, the soil gets damaged significantly, and the land becomes arid, which may not be recoverable, and desertification occurs. Desertification affects topsoil, groundwater reserves, … The region currently faces extensive desertification caused by numerous factors. As cities expand, more land in the vicinity is used for the development projects. Once land turns from arable to arid, it is often on longer suitable for farming purposes anymore. These pollutants then remain deposited in the soil or wash off into rivers, creeks or lakes. Loss of biodiversity: animals and plants cannot live in a desert. Do we have so much free land available that we do not need to be concerned about this? Causes and effects of environmental degradation in Bangladesh. When people are looking to move into an area, or they need trees in order to make houses and do other tasks, then they are contributing to the problems related to desertification. Additionally, if the land is used for grazing at this stage, it only results in a quicker loss of plant species and total degradation. In areas of low precipitation, like Sub-Saharan Africa, long droughts that turn arid land to unproductive, barren soil are a frequent cause of desertification. Flooding can also negatively affect the water supply, which we will discuss next. Humans degrade soils when they compact it, erode it, disrupt its organic and inorganic structure, raise its salinity, and cause desertification. The acts of compaction and erosion as a result of overgrazing can cause tremendous land degradation. In dry regions, grass and other small vegetation is necessary to keep the soil in place to prevent erosion and further damage to the soil. But Collobrative effort s are needed especially from the powerful nations of the world leaving behind their egotism. In many instances, these people go to larger cities, hoping for better life by finding a new livelihood. Causes of desertification range from the removal of trees and plants to intensive farming that depletes the fertile soil. There have been numerous cases when overgrazed areas of land became severely damaged. This is exactly what has been happening in the Sahel. Thus, less land will be arid, and the desertification issue can be mitigated to a certain extent. ), Can You Recycle Trophies? Its depletion causes desertification as the water table falls disrupting the equilibrium. For mining, large areas of land have to be used, which causes deforestation as well as pollution of the nearby areas. These migrations into the cities often cause large numbers of unemployed people, who end up living in slums. Except causing damage, flood water also picks up many unwanted pollutants while making its progress through urban areas, landfills, wastelands, or agricultural lands where fertilizers and pesticides were used. The cause may vary from region to region on account of economic conditions, population pressure, agricultural practices, and … As areas become more urbanized, there are fewer places for plants to grow, thus causing desertification. 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. 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]. The word ‘desertification’ may seem like a word depicting a very distant and abstract environmental problem that most of us do not consider being important in our daily lives. Desertification propels the loss of biodiversity on a large-scale. 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. Under circumstances like these, people often overextract water from available resources like creeks, rivers or even groundwater to irrigate the crops. The main causes of desertification include: Population growth - the population in some desert areas is increasing. Desertification comes about by a complex interaction between the natural environment and human activities. Its depletion causes desertification. Sometimes the two can combine and natural processes of desertification that are already underway can be accelerated and made worse by humans. Animal grazing is a huge problem for many areas that are starting to become desert biomes. (Granger 1990). (And 10 Ways to Reuse Egg Shells), Pentagon Report Reveals US Military Bases To Also Come Under The Purview Of Climate Change Catastrophe, Savanna Biome: Location, Climate, Temperature, Soil, Plants and Animals, Various Human Activities That Affect an Ecosystem, Why are Forests Important and 20+ Unbelievable Reasons For Loss of Forests, Can You Recycle Propane Tanks? And together with ecosystems disappear even natural resources that were once present. Because of ambitious cotton farming projects in the dry Aral Sea basin that needed irrigation. This means that affected areas and even adjacent areas have compromised capacity of withstanding extreme weather events. 30 million acres) more turn into barren deserts every year [1,2]. 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. In fact, in some areas overgrazing has led to complete desertification. It occurs because of man-made activities and climate change. The health impacts of desertification and drought [pdf, 1.3 Mb] Review. Lack of water to support farming and desert sands encroaching villages are already causing trouble to rice farmers throughout the regions of northern China. Besides other contributing factors, Sahel farmers are partially to blame because they have removed trees to cultivate crops in this semi-arid area, and thus speeding up Sahel desertification by exposing soils to erosion [15]. When it comes to health effects, dusty desert air can cause respiratory diseases. A huge issue that many countries have is the fact that there are large pockets of land that are going through a process that is known as desertification. We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. 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. By adding these to what we should be doing with land, we can ensure that we don’t turn the entire world into a desert. There are a variety of factors that cause the issue of desertification. UNCCD estimates that advancing desertification could displace globally 50 million people in the next 10 years [21]. Planting trees in those areas are quite important since they are natural carbon dioxide storage spaces; they slow down global warming and contribute to maintaining a natural balance. Groundwater is the freshwater found underground and also one of the largest water sources. and space to grow food and build settlements. Without farms in these areas, the food that those farms produce will become much scarcer, and the people who live in those local areas will be a lot more likely to try and deal with hunger problems. This means that natural resources, which are continuously needed for the proper functioning of any densely inhabited area, have to be taken from the surrounding environment. And the land of the dry lake basin became a saline desert where nothing grows on its own. Drylands, the most susceptible areas to desertification, are characterized by a scarcity of water during certain periods of the year. Additionally, artificially added water also rises otherwise low groundwater level which in turn dissolves even more salts [7]. Can You Recycle Photos? All Rights Reserved . As soon as livelihoods are endangered, people turn against each other, which sets in motion series of events that lead to the collapse. Desertification may alter the living conditions of the local flora and fauna that makes it impossible for animals and plants to sustain their populations. A true environmentalist by heart ❤️. Unless climate change is slowed down, huge areas of land will become desert; some of those areas may even become uninhabitable as time goes on. Animals will also go hungry, which will cause even more of a food shortage. And it is these fertilizers that are poisoning scarce sources of potable water, as they are flushed with every rain into the river and drinking wells of people [10]. This is caused, and acts in concert with, a number of other factors — including drought, overgrazing, deforestation, common agricultural practices, and changes in the climate. Salt buildup on cultivated lands, then, makes it difficult for crops and other plants to grow, further exacerbating degradation of these lands. Events such as flash floods, landslides and dust storms, become stronger in areas with heavily degraded soils. Founded Conserve Energy Future with the sole motto of providing helpful information related to our rapidly depleting environment. (And Can You Sell Them? We need abundance of plants and animal species richness to have oxygen to breathe, clean water to drink and nutritious food to eat. Addresses the land issues identified by UNEP regional groups, and highlights the pressures of human demands on the land resource as the cause of land degradation. It also investigates the causes and effects of drought and climate change to provide early warnings of drought so that action can be taken to reduce its effects. But how does such a serious form of land degradation happen and how come we let it advance so far?