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Page added on June 17, 2016
Why Is Desertification Alarming?
Land, by all means, is a major resource asset as it provides a foundation for economic growth and for poverty reduction. As the world’s population increases, land becomes increasingly valuable, which only means any form of land degradation is a threat to us all.
Desertification is one of the major problems adversely affecting the quality of the land. As defined by Green Facts, desertification is the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by variations in climate and human activities.
To promote public awareness about the situation, June 17 is commemorated as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
As per United Nations, the global event was declared in December 1994 to recognize the need to combat desertification and drought.
For this year, the observance will have the theme “Inclusive cooperation for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality,” and a slogan “Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People.”
To better understand the issue, here are some basic facts about desertification.
How desertification occurs
Desertification is usually due to human activities and extreme weather conditions.
When trees and plants are removed from the soil (such as in grazing and intensive farming), the nutrients in the soil are also removed, causing it to be degraded. Without the nutrients, the land would be infertile and would turn into a desert–dry and arid.
How are we affected by desertification?
According to a report published by the International Fund For Agricultural Development, over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification and one billion people in over 100 countries are at risk.
Desertification results to the fall of world’s drinking water supply. Every year, 12 million people die because of water shortage.
In addition to water, desertification affects livelihood. Since 1990, 6 million hectares of productive land are lost every year due to land degradation. This threatens the food security of the planet.
How can we minimize or prevent desertification?
Sustainable development will not be achieved if all lands are left unproductive, which is why people must do their share to save what’s left of the land. Because desertification is caused by loss of vegetation, reforestation and tree generation is highly encouraged. Avoid cutting trees to make way for tall buildings. Moreover, protect the soil by fencing and enrich it by using animal manure.
Another way to reduce the impacts of desertification is by managing water usage properly.
30 Comments on "Why Is Desertification Alarming?"
Davy on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 12:49 pm
Desertification is not going to be stopped and it is set to greatly increase. Climate change and uncontrolled development are unstoppable. There are things you can do if you are in these vulnerable areas. Take a little piece of your place and make it better. If groups of likeminded people do the same some change will happen but it will be dwarfed by the momentum of destructive development and the abrupt dangers of climate change. Unfortunately the same is true of so many other worthy and special activities like permaculture and wildlife conservation. Everything of true value and goodness is being destroyed in the face of the steamroller of modern population and consumption overshoot. We are doomed to follow this process down the drain of collapse but within this horrible macro event is micro examples of success and achievement. Lower your expectations and enjoy your own little oasis of paradise.
farmlad on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 1:12 pm
the loess plateau project is one example of what can be accomplished but the majority of the desertifying places on our planet require the principles that Holistic management International is applying and teaching.
FNORD on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 1:37 pm
I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets in my ass crack.
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 1:43 pm
Seven climate records set so far in 2016
From soaring temperatures in Alaska and India to Arctic sea ice melting and CO2 concentrations rising, this year is smashing records around the world
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/17/seven-climate-records-set-so-far-in-2016
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 1:46 pm
Why drought alone does not explain Lake Mead’s expanding bathtub ring
“It’s been a good runoff this year in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River still swelling in size last weekend as it flows out of Rocky Mountain National Park, flexing muscle as the Eagle, the Gunnison and other tributaries augment its flows on the way toward Utah.
So why is Lake Mead continuing to decline? The giant storage reservoir, located near Las Vegas, in May dropped to its lowest level since 1937, the year after Hoover Dam was completed.
“Drought” is the usual answer. “Over-appropriation” is another. But an increasing body of evidence points to a more complicated story: the water is literally going up into the air.”
http://mountaintownnews.net/2016/06/15/causes-lake-meads-expanding-bathtub-ring/
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 1:56 pm
Drought Selfies and Drought Suicides
“Over 330 million Indians — about one quarter of the country’s population — have been affected by the drought. In this western state, where over half the population is dependent on the rural economy, the effects are severe. An average of nearly nine farmers committed suicide every day last year, primarily over debt related to crop failure.
Rural Indians are falling behind even as urban Indians enjoy unprecedented prosperity. And the tragedies that befall the poor benefit the more affluent. Forced to migrate to the cities, displaced farmers have little option but to join the enormous, unorganized labor force that serves the urban middle class as construction and domestic workers.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/18/opinion/sunday/drought-selfies-and-drought-suicides.html?_r=0
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 1:59 pm
El Niño is dead, leaving behind legacy of a heated planet, devastated corals and monster storms
“El Niño has met its demise.
The much-hyped ocean-atmosphere oscillation was declared dead by the National Weather Service today. The pool of unusually warm water in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, the telltale indicator of El Niño, has cooled to nearly normal.
“We’re sticking a fork in this El Niño and calling it done,” writes NOAA climate analyst Emily Becker on its El Niño blog.
But this year’s El Niño, among the strongest on record, will long be remembered for profoundly altering weather extremes in parts of the world while pushing the planet’s temperature to shocking record highs, with devastating consequences.
The Earth’s temperature in 2015 became the warmest on record by a landslide, largely because of the excess heat passed from the tropical Pacific into the atmosphere — superimposed on the long-term climate warming from rising greenhouse gas concentrations.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/06/09/el-nino-is-dead-leaving-behind-legacy-of-a-heated-planet-devastated-corals-and-monster-storms/
John on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 2:28 pm
Also loads of cold records and pole ice set, together with strange snowfall in unexpected places…
Davy on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 4:25 pm
Speaking of desertification looks like the strip could get awful dusty soon:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-17/las-vegas-going-dry-largest-reservoir-america-reaches-record-low
penury on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 4:29 pm
Yes John, we call that weather just to not confuse people. The heat records were set after comparing to all existing records from as far back as possible. Snow in strange places however, really has no records.
John on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 6:05 pm
Misiones in Argentina first snow for 48 yrs…June snow in California, Alaska, China, New YorkYork, Finland, Russia…
I can remember back in the early 70’s you couldn’t walk without shoes cos the ground was so hot…roads were melting and we all swam in the sea and outdoor pools which today where we live you need to be a hard nut to do that….
All things seem to go in cycles….including economy, fashion and even weather…
Davy on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 6:35 pm
John , the problem today seems to be the cycle as in a disrupted cycle. It has been the relatively benign climate of the past 10,000 years that has allowed civilization. We have probably disrupted that beyond a stable cycle range. It is now a question of if civilization can adapt to an unstable climate regime. In my opinion it can’t considering all the other problems going along with it.
Go Speed Racer on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 6:38 pm
Dessertification is OK. I like dessert.
makati1 on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 7:40 pm
The central parts of all landmasses/continents will be drying out and the exiting deserts expanding. The Dust Bowl of 80 years ago will return to America, and may never end. Central China, Central Australia, etc. Will only get worse, forcing more people to the coasts. Or so it seems to be pointing in that direction. Time will tell.
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 7:51 pm
Rapid Polar Warming Kicks ENSO Out of Climate Driver’s Seat, Sets off Big 2014-2016 Global Temperature Spike
“What is happening right now is we are catapulting ourselves out of the Holocene, which is the geological epoch that human civilisation has been able to develop in, because of the relatively stable climate. It allowed us to invent agriculture, rather than living as nomads. It allowed a big population growth, it allowed the foundation of cities, all of which required a stable climate.” — Stefan Rahmstorf
“A strong El Nino in 2015 helped to contribute to record hot global temperatures over the past three years. But with so much heat unexpectedly showing up in the global climate system, there’s clearly something else going on. And indicators are that the natural climate variability that human beings have grown accustomed to over the last 10,000 years may now be a thing of the past — as it is steadily overwhelmed by a stronger overall greenhouse gas based warming signature. One that is concentrating more and more warming near the poles.”
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/06/17/rapid-polar-warming-kicks-enso-out-of-the-climate-drivers-seat-sets-off-big-2014-2016-global-temperature-spike/
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 7:59 pm
Antarctic CO2 Hit 400 PPM for First Time in 4 Million Years
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarctic-co2-hit-400-ppm-for-first-time-in-4-million-years/?WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20160616
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 8:08 pm
Global Warming Threatens the Material Basis of the Global Economy
“LONDON—Climate change is likely to affect the global economy—and it may already have begun to affect raw material supplies from tropical regions, according to new research.
That is because, in a global economy, the flow of wealth depends on a secure supply chain, and productivity that depends on outdoor work in the tropics could become more precarious in a warming world.
Even in a temperate zone country such as Australia, researchers have linked heat extremes with economic losses. And climate-related disasters are on the increase, claiming not just lives but a growing economic toll.
Research has also indicated that, without drastic action, some regions may reach temperatures that could make them uninhabitable.”
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/global_warming_threatens_the_material_basis_of_the_global_economy_20160617
makati1 on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 8:30 pm
Ap, good article.
“…some regions may reach temperatures that could make them uninhabitable.”
When the temperature gets close to, or above that of the human body, it is not able to cool itself efficiently. Especially if the humidity does not allow evaporation. Heat stroke is then likely, even if you are not working.
JuanP on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 9:20 pm
Farmlad “the loess plateau project is one example of what can be accomplished”
I highly recommend John D Liu’s movie “Greening the Dessert” to people interested in restoring dessert habitats. It is truly inspiring and available for free on YouTube.
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 11:33 pm
Drought be Dammed
The water crisis in the West has renewed debate about the effectiveness of major dams, with some pushing for the enormous Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River to be decommissioned.
https://www.propublica.org/article/drought-provokes-debate-on-unplugging-great-dams-of-american-west
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 11:36 pm
California’s trees are thirstier than a college kid with a hangover
“California won’t be throwing much shade this summer. It would need trees to do that. Last year, almost 30 million trees died in the Golden State — and that number is expected to double or triple by the end of 2016. The high mortality rates come at a time when the state needs healthy forests most, with climate change looming always and a La Niña — El Niño’s dry hermana — on the way.
The likely outcome? California’s landscape will radically transform, starting with a surge of wildfires that will trigger mudslides, diminished water quality, and the rise of new vegetation.
None of this should be surprising, considering the stress California’s forests have been under. The Golden State is facing its fifth year of severe drought — one of its driest periods in the last century. “Tree mortality will continue until drought conditions subside,” says John Heil, press officer at the U.S. Forest Service. That has left millions of trees thirstier than a college kid with a hangover.”
http://grist.org/climate-energy/californias-trees-are-thirstier-than-a-college-kid-with-a-hangover/
Apneaman on Fri, 17th Jun 2016 11:42 pm
The enormous threat to America’s last grasslands
“As the landscape has begun to change, beekeepers have noticed a greater rate of mortality,” said Zac Browning, an apiarist near Jamestown.
Pollinators provide an estimated $15 billion in ecosystem services — such as pollinating food crops — annually, said Clint Otto, an ecologist at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Of that amount, $12 billion alone can be attributed to honeybees.
“Or, one in three bites of food,” Otto said.
The prairie pothole region also serves as a significant carbon storage mechanism. Statistical models run by the U.S. Geological Survey show that a hypothetical loss of 100 percent of the region’s CRP acres could result in a release of more than 12 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/06/16/the-enormous-but-forgotten-threat-to-americas-last-grasslands/?postshare=5881466187482564&tid=ss_tw-bottom
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 12:23 am
Ap, Now that this year’s El Niño is over and the La Niña is coming we can expect droughts in the US West to worsen in the coming months and maybe years. We can expect California’s precipitation to fall drastically again. I expect California’s drought to get worse from now on.
theedrich on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 4:25 am
Nature’s cutback of humanity is starting NOW. It’s just that most of us prefer not to admit it. So we will try a little more complexity. Perhaps a new smartphone app or two will save us. Or maybe more renewables to continue BAU growth. And anyway, the anthropoid ape in the D.C. throne room and his follow-on hag will use the U.S. as a dumping ground for all of the primitive “refugees” from the first-afflicted parts of our dying planet. So those parts can become larger and metastasize. Yup, look at the bright side.
Davy on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 6:25 am
“The enormous threat to America’s last grasslands” This is a deceptive comment and article. The fact is a return of native prairie to the Midwest is a very important adaptation process to combat climate change. I know from actual experience what needs to be done. Our farm has a significant amount of replanted native grasses. I am also allowing weeds and brush to grow. I am making an effort to control over competition of any one type of plant community. I have goats and cattle utilizing the broader spectrum of plant communities not just cattle. What I want is diversity to combat adverse weather that is coming from climate change. I have a polyculture of pasture plant communities.
The enormous threat to America’s grasslands it to the vast expanses of monocultures of the type large animal farms produce so they can maximize stocking rates. This is done because farming is so difficult to make a living at so you must maximize production just to survive. We have large amounts of vulnerable grasslands that are in traditional agriculture. What is not in as much danger is the native grasslands. There are some like the referenced comment above that will be in danger because of the wetland component may be impacted but the vast majority of land that is mostly dry land prairie grasses will make a comeback. Weeds and brush will quickly recolonize dead and dying monoculture grasslands traditional agriculture traditionally occupied. Even crop lands on marginal land will be recolonized by weeds, brush, and grasses because at some point farming will stop because of economics and climate. We need animals to return to utilize this natural solar production. Ideally big portions of the Great Plains needs to return to utilizing bison as an example. Local communities need to see a large increase in animals raised in and around their community by residents not just farmers.
yoshua on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 6:34 am
Breaking News: Oil Industry Saves The World.
http://oilpro.com/post/19418/breaking-news-oil-industry-saves-world
Dr. Patrick Moore, one of the original founders of Greenpeace, made a ground-breaking speech on the 14th October entitled “Should We Celebrate Carbon Dioxide?”
This could mark a watershed in the “climate debate.” Not only has a high profile environmentalist “comes out” as a “Denier”, but the speech has been supported by many other “Environmentalists” including James Lovelock (of Gaia Theory fame).
Some of his main points in the speech were as follows:
•Human emissions of CO2 have saved life on our planet from a very untimely end. In the absence of our emitting some of the carbon back into the atmosphere from whence it came in the first place, most or perhaps all life on Earth would begin to die less than two million years from today.
•There is certainty beyond any doubt that CO2 is the building block for all life on Earth and that without its presence in the global atmosphere at a sufficient concentration this would be a dead planet. Yet today our children and the public are taught that CO2 is a toxic pollutant that will destroy life and bring civilization to its knees.
•Despite 1/3 of all our CO2 emissions being released during the past 18 years the UK Met Office contends there has been no statistically significant warming during this century.
•We are witnessing the “Greening of the Earth” as higher levels of CO2, due to human emissions from the use of fossil fuels, promote increased growth of plants around the world. This has been confirmed by scientists with CSIRO in Australia, in Germany, and in North America.
•During the past 150 million years there has not been enough addition of CO2 to the atmosphere to offset the gradual losses due to burial in sediments. One quadrillion tons of carbon, have been turned into stone by marine species.
•The past 150 million years has seen a steady drawing down of CO2 from the atmosphere. If this trend continues CO2 will inevitably fall to levels that threaten the survival of plants, which require a minimum of 150 ppm to survive. If plants die all the animals, insects, and other invertebrates that depend on plants for their survival will also die.
•If humans had not begun to unlock some of the carbon stored as fossil fuels, life on Earth would have soon been starved of this essential nutrient and would begin to die.
Kenz300 on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 7:16 am
Too many people demand too many resources……yet the worlds population grows by 80 million every year…..
How many charities are dealing with the same problems they were dealing with 10 or 20 years ago with no end in sight. Every problem is made worse by the worlds growing population.
If you can not provide for yourself you can not provide for a child.
Birth Control Permanent Methods: Learn About Effectiveness
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/birth_control_permanent_methods/article_em.htm
makati1 on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 9:19 am
Not looking good in California this summer:
Wildfires in California, New Mexico trigger hundreds of evacuations
120 Degrees! Western Wildfires Explode With Triple-Digit Heat Wave on the Way
Firenado spins up in California wildfire
http://ricefarmer.blogspot.fr/
“The total number of people under some form of hot weather advisory into next week — 66 million — represents about a fifth of the entire U.S. population.”
John on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 6:28 pm
If you want rain….and you think it is up with oil….why don’t you all invade Ireland….because it f****** never stops raining here!!!
John on Sat, 18th Jun 2016 6:32 pm
Would you like to buy any water….I can send as many tankers you want????