June 17 marks the UN-sponsored "World Day to Combat Desertification," an event designed to highlight the serious threats to dryland ecosystems posed by desertification.
The theme of this year's celebration, which is conducted annually by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, is "Desertification and Climate Change - One Global Challenge." As the title suggests, organizers hope to highlight "the significant benefits of an integrated approach to tackling these two major environmental challenges."
Desertification and Its Effects
Desertification is the gradual process of soil degradation and loss of vegetative cover in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas (collectively referred to as drylands). Desertification is often caused by human activities, such as overgrazing, overfarming, deforestation, and poorly planned irrigation systems. Extreme climatic events, such as droughts or floods, can also spur on the process.
Source: UNEP/GRID.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),"...desertification currently affects approximately twenty-five to thirty percent of the world's land surface area. About 1.2 billion people in at least 100 states are at risk." UNEP also notes that the extent of desertification is increasing worldwide.
Like many environmental problems, desertification has an inordinate impact on the poor. In fact, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), a comprehensive four-year survey of the state of the world's biota, confirmed that desertification is one of the most serious ecosystem changes for people living in poverty. Two-thirds of the world's poor live in areas that are susceptible to desertification, and over half of them depend on the land for their livelihoods. Africa is particularly vulnerable, with around 60% of its total area covered by desert or drylands.
Source: EarthTrends 2007.
Link to Climate Change
Many of desertification's causes are human in nature but, as noted above, the problem can also be exacerbated by climate change. As severe weather events increase in frequency and severity due to global warming, degradation of dry lands tends to increase. Even worse, desertification and climate can form a 'feedback loop' with the loss of vegetation caused by desertification reducing carbon sinks and increasing emissions from biodegrading plants. The result is more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a continuation of the vicious cycle involving climate change and desertification. By highlighting this disturbing link, it is hoped that policymakers and governments will become more effective in combating these twin problems.RELATED LINKS:
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Success Stories in Combatting Desertification
EarthTrends
UNCCD Convention Status by Country
