Imagine living in a place with vast nature and lush plants, but seeing it all slowly turning into a barren, scorched, unlivable wasteland over the years. Sounds like something from a dystopian book doesn’t it? Well as the saying goes, “reality is stranger than fiction,” and this process of desertification—where fecund land degrades, turns to desert, and is unable to support the amount of plant life it used to—is no exception. But how could something like this even happen? Well, it’s mostly caused by a loss of plant life that is driven by human actions like deforestation (which throws the chemistry of soil out of balance and exposes it to the elements, leaving it unsuitable for life), global warming, overgrazing, exploitative farming practices, mining, natural disasters, overpopulation, etc. Unfortunately, this post-apocalyptic land degradation process is on the rise. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) found that 12 million hectares of arable land are lost to desertification every year and desertification affects 1.5 billion people. It is also predicted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization that Africa will lose two thirds of its farmable land to desertification by 2030.
These numbers are absolutely devastating to humans and the environment. Desertification will cause famines, because food storages will deplete due to a lack of arable land and polluted drinking water; conflicts due to limited resources; mass migration crises; and the collapse of civilization as we know it. Desertification’s effect on the environment is disastrous. It causes plants to die on a massive scale, animals to die since they don’t have enough food or water, massive runoff and more plant death, and ecosystems to be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Desertification is a terrifying occurrence and making moves to limit the effects of climate change will make every environment less vulnerable to it.
Krish L
The Carbon Newsprint
Comments