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Desertification threatens 38 percent of the world Jeremy Hance mongabay.com February 10, 2010 "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 researcher at the Institute of Agro Food Research and Technology (IRTA). Many of these regions have already experienced pockets of desertification.
"Unsustainable land use may lead to soil becoming degraded. If this happens in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions, such as Spain, this degradation is known as desertification, and the effects can be irreversible, because they lead to areas becoming totally unproductive", explains Núñez. Unsustainable land use includes over-grazing, over-cultivation, and deforestation. Scientists are further worried that climate change is exacerbating desertifcation worldwide. Researchers employed the Life Cycle Assessment which analyzes the full environmental impacts of an activity, such as mining or logging. The researchers looked at four main signs of sensitivity to desertification: aridity, erosion, over-exploitation of aquifers, and the risk of fire. "This makes it possible to satisfactorily evaluate the impact of desertification of a particular human activity, and compare the impact of the same activity in a different place, or the impact of different activities carried out in the same place," explains Núñez. Citation: Núñez, Montserrat; Civit, Bárbara; Muñoz, Pere; Arena, Alejandro Pablo; Rieradevall, Joan; Anton, Assumpció. "Assessing potential desertification environmental impact in life cycle assessment" International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 15(1): 67-78, enero de 2010. Related articles >Global warming threatens desert life (11/09/2009) There have been numerous studies showing how climate change is impacting a variety of environments—from the Arctic to coral reefs to alpine—but how could a warmer world damage deserts, already the world's warmest and driest environments? Looming desertification could spawn millions of environmental refugees (12/14/2006) Africa may be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025 if soil degradation on the continent continues at its current pace, according to a water expert presenting at an upcoming United Nations University (UNU) conference on desertification in Algiers, Algeria. Karl Harmsen, Director of UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, says that should soil conditions continue to decline in Africa, nearly 75% of the continent could come to rely on some sort of food aid by 2025. b>Disappearing drylands spell trouble says UN (03/21/2006) According to the United Nations, the continuing degradation of the world'apos;apos;s dryland ecosystems is threatening biodiversity and worsening poverty around the globe. In an effort to bring attention to the dire condition of these important lands, which cover almost half the planet'apos;apos;s land surface, the world organization has proclaimed 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
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