Where is desertification happening the most?
Africa
Africa is the continent most affected by desertification, and one of the most obvious natural borders on the landmass is the southern edge of the Sahara desert. The countries that lie on the edge of the Sahara are among the poorest in the world, and they are subject to periodic droughts that devastate their peoples.
Which area is facing the major problem in desertification?
Mongolia and China are being deeply affected by land degradation and top soil loss. PRC, about 27% of the country’s land mass is “desertified”. Almost 400 million people live in areas prone to desertification, and the economic loss to the PRC has been estimated at around $6.5 billion a year (www.unccd.int).
What region is most threatened by desertification?
“The greatest risk of desertification (7.6 out of 10 on a scale produced using various desertification indicators) is in the subtropical desert regions – North Africa, the countries of the Middle East, Australia, South West China and the western edge of South America”, said Montserrat Núñez, lead author and a …
How many countries are suffering from desertification?
The risk of desertification is widespread and spans more than 100 countries, hitting some of the poorest and most vulnerable populations the hardest, since subsistence farming is common across many of the affected regions.
What are the negative impact of desertification?
It is also caused by human activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility. It negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services. Desertification is a form of land degradation by which fertile land becomes desert.
What is the impact of desertification?
Desertification has caused major environmental and socioeconomic problems in many arid and semiarid areas of the world1. It causes soil degradation and severely reduces potential land productivity2–4, which causes degradation of the ecosystem and its associated ecosystem services.
What is the number one cause of desertification?
‘Climatic variations’ and ‘Human activities’ can be regarded as the two main causes of desertification. removal of the natural vegetation cover（by taking too much fuel wood）, agricultural activities in the vulnerable ecosystems of arid and semi-arid areas, which are thus strained beyond their capacity.
What are 6 causes of desertification?
Various Causes of Desertification
- Overgrazing.
- Deforestation.
- Farming Practices.
- Excessive Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides.
- Overdrafting of groundwater.
- Urbanization and Other Types of Land Development.
- Climate Change.
- Stripping the Land of Resources.
How can desertification affect humans?
Land degradation and desertification can affect human health through complex pathways. As land is degraded and deserts expand in some places, food production is reduced, water sources dry up and populations are pressured to move to more hospitable areas. the spread of infectious diseases as populations migrate.
What kind of land is affected by desertification?
While interpretations of the term desertification vary, the concern centers on human-caused land degradation in areas with low or variable rainfall known as drylands: arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid lands. These drylands account for more than 40 percent of the world’s terrestrial surface area.
What does the United Nations call the process of desertification?
Some consider this process, known as desertification, irreversible. Officially, the United Nations defines desertification as “the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.”
How is desertification a problem for poor people?
Officially, the United Nations defines desertification as “the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.” The shrinking of arable land threatens food and water security for those in poor and rural areas. Poverty and desertification go hand in hand in a vicious cycle.
How does desertification cause mass migration in Africa?
Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas, particularly in Africa.