Desertification

One of the major problems facing our planet right now is desertification, the process of arid and semi-arid climates being degraded into less fertile and harsher environments. A variety of factors create conditions where the available rainfall and precipitation cannot be utilized by the soil and vegetation in a landscape. Other impacts include soil degradation, poor vegetation quality, and reduced water and biodiversity.

The root cause of desertification is twofold. The combination of poor land management and climate variability multiply the negative effects in these fragile dryland ecosystems. Human’s use of the land and how they view it can have drastic impacts on increasing desertification. Overgrazing, overcultivation, and deforestation all degrade the soil health which leads to erosion and decreased biodiversity. Climate variability and warming from carbon and greenhouse gas emissions also have a significant impact. Overall increase in land temperatures lead to more droughts and increased storm occurrences. As the soil dries out and there is less vegetated cover, the soil can’t absorb and hold onto the available precipitation. Evaporation rates increase and storms cause significant erosion washing or blowing away all the vital biomass and topsoil.

Desertification is occurring all around the world, impacting over 38% of earth’s land cover. Large areas in western North America, northern and southern Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and central Asia have the highest risk for desertification to continue spreading. These areas are home to approximately 2.7 billion people who depend on the fertility of the drylands. So, desertification is happening all over the world, influencing people’s everyday lives, but there are also significant impacts on wildlife habitat and endangered species.

Because drylands are such fragile ecosystems, the risk for extreme habitat degradation and species loss are much greater. Many species rely on the seasonal grassland forage for survival and when these lose their overall quality and production, the trophic levels are disrupted. Lower quantity and quality of producers impacts all levels of consumers from herbaceous grazers to carnivorous predators. Droughts and warmer temperatures especially affect mammals and birds because they rely on evapotranspiration to cool themselves.

Although desertification is a major problem facing many areas around the world, there are ways to minimize and reduce the impacts. By addressing the main problem of soil coverage, improved grazing techniques, reduced tilling and cover cropping, can build soil biomass and water holding capacity. Restoring the health of rangeland should be a top priority especially because of their ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground. With offset greenhouse gas emissions from better land management and personal actions we can protect the world’s grasslands and the variety of species which inhabit them.

References:

#creator, & #identity. (2019, June 18). Drought and desertification. World Animal Protection. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://animalsindisasters.org/news/drought-and-desertification.

Chapter 3 : Desertification — special report on ... - IPCC. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-3/.

Explainer: Desertification and the role of climate change. Carbon Brief. (2020, September 2). Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-desertification-and-the-role-of-climate-change.

Savory Institute. (2021, June 29). What is desertification and how can we solve it? ⋆ savory institute. Savory Institute. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://savory.global/what-is-desertification-and-how-can-we-solve-it/.