The United Nations Convention Of Combat Desertification

“Erosion occurs when the soil lacks protective vegetative cover”. (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) “Soil erosion reduces the productivity of the land by loss of water, soil, organic matter, nutrients, biota, and depth of soil.” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) With no conservation methods in place in certain places like: no contour farming, no cover crop, no terraces, no water ways, and tillage on steep hills is asking for a loss of productivity from the land. The effects on the land that non-conservation methods have is horrible. “Its effects are pervasive, and its damages are long lasting. (Pimentel and others 1995a)” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a bigger factor then most people think. For an example an comparison of how much soil is actually lost in certain environments: “On sloping agricultural land under tropical rainfall, as much as 400t/ha/yr of soil is lost (Pimentel unpublished report,1990).”(Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) “Under arid conditions with relatively strong winds, as much as 5600t/ha/yr of soil has been reported lost (Gupta and Raina 1996).” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a huge factor when conservation practices are not put into place. “According to some investigators, approximately 75 billion tons a fertile soil are lost annually from the world’s agricultural systems (Myers 1993).” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a huge factor and many different things can be done to help slow it,

An example of a catastrophic climate change is a period known as the “Younger Dryas,” an epoch in time when the mean global surface temperature dropped drastically in a couple of decades and lasted for one millennium. Although the circumstance of the Younger Dryas is quite different compared to the present, it shows how cataclysmic a drastic climate change could enforce. Two important or major definitions presented in the work are mean global surface temperature and (global) climate. Mean global surface temperature is defined as “average of the air temperature measured at the land surface and of the surface water temperature measured over large bodies of water” (Jordan, 2006, p. 159). As for global climate, according to Jordan (2006), “the average of the global weather…over a time interval appropriate to the rate at which the climate is changing” is the best definition. These two terms appear frequently throughout, which shows the significance of comprehending the meaning as it relates to the argument and explanation.

Now, humans have a steady food supply so they do not have to move about. Therefore, people use fences to keep their animals in one place, which causes overgrazing. Today we see many subjects being affected by desertification. Ute Schaeffer reports the affects of desertification in, Down to Earth: News & Views on Desertification,“(doc.3) It has presented a challenge for governments and aid agencies in over 110 countries for some time, and is a contributing factor in poverty and regional conflicts, for example in Sudan. It has also been a major issue in Egypt, where 90% of the country’s land mass is desert. Faced with a rising population, the government has had to undertake a number of settlement and irrigation projects to create additional living and working space.” Necessary changes were made in order to adapt to the conditions of the desert and the obstacles that have to be faced. It is always presumed that there are only negative aspects to deserts but this isn’t always the case. There is a side to the Sahara desert that acts as a home to several living organisms. The Sahara has vegetation and access to water, which allows life to exist in this region. The Nile Valley, for example, is an area that is still quite full of foliage, trees and other growing things. This area is an exception, because of the way it is fed by the Nile River. Another area of the Sahara that has some vegetation to it is in the North, along the Mediterranean where olive trees grow

This causes the desertification and it also slows down progress for finding areas that can be medicine for certain diseases. Grasslands act as a big sponge, as they are able to absorb the rain that falls throughout the grassland. Because of this, there's fertile land, and abundance of nutrients for migrating wildlife. In south Africa, companies have put non-native trees in the grassland which is taking away nutrients from the area. In the Florida Everglades, they're only about 80 Florida Panthers left. The big problem that I notice is that we are able to make plenty of land for agriculture but not for people. In only three years, farmers in Zambia have created food security for 16,000 farmers. Glaciers are melting all run the world, however the speed of this has went up three times as much in the last 50

In addition, Darfur’s terrain can be classified into four individual sections: mountains, basement rock, watercourses, and sand. In Darfur a large amount of the arable land consists of goz (soil sediment where vegetation grows). Goz can be useful for farming but primarily offers land for grazing herds. Then, through a process the land around the watercourses and the goz makes the land fertile. Each year the land becomes less arable. Also desertification (process that includes arable land decreasing and the desert area increasing), deforestation, the drought and over use of the land have fueled the conflict between various tribal groups. This has caused most of Darfur’s population to become dependent on the southern region. The lack of fertile land is causing the

As lack of water and a particularly dry climate out competes shrubs, trees, and grasslands across Colorado, erosion rates increase reducing the infiltration of moisture into the soil. Causation is believed to have come from heavy livestock grazing, fire suppression, and the introduction of exotic annual plants. Habitat problems for animals and communities that rely on ranching and hunting have been directly affected by these desertification effects. Desertification has had large ecological impacts on the state of Colorado. Vegetation and ecosystems are among the most crucially impacted by the effects of desertification. While Colorado continues its dry drought like climate, restoration of soil becomes one of the major solutions to fight off desertification. Because of the overuse of our land in past generations, we are continuing to see the harmful effects due to desertification. The overall impact on humans produced by desertification is best noticed by a diminishing food production as well as a wealth of water sources becoming dry. People in affected areas are likely to experience poor water quality, dust storms, and pollution. More importantly, as soil loses its nutrients, it no longer becomes farmable; thus, impacting local businesses, livestock, and the many people in that community. If desertification continues in Colorado, an increase of lost farmlands and livestock will pose an economic decease within agriculture markets, farmers will be forced to move to find better

Finally, based on the Mr. Savory present on how to we fight the desertification and reverse climate change. He was focused on the global rangeland, about two third of the land had become desertification, he thinks that grazing animals should be management of the grassland, so the land would not get destroyed badly. He also mentions the seasonal grassland, if the grass dying out, it will be oxidation and release the carbon. We use fire to burn the grass in order to grow the grass in next season. But this is harmful, he thinks we can put the animals in the grassland, the way can prevent the fire and protect with the soil. Which is a good idea for that. When Mr. Savory came to the United Stated and saw the national park was becoming a desert,

First of all, Savory said Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert, and this cause happened are we create too much naked ground. More and more land is turning to desert on every continent, contributing to harmful changes in the earth’s climate. On the article that response to the video, on his first argument said all non-forested lands are degraded. He claims that “all nonforested land on the planet is degrading and that the reasons for degradation are not understood.” He thinks false because many of rangelands are being perfectly management and deserts are consequence of climate and soil factors. Based on the video he said, if rangeland have too many animals cause overgrazing, which degrades the land. The critical

Climate change is a rising issue of importance in our day and age, and one that is threatening our global society on many levels. In the past few decades, scientists have discovered that our planet’s climate has been changing at an alarming rate. The way in which we have changed the land to

23. Why does reduction in soil moisture content pose an impending disaster for many areas in the world?

In our increasingly globalized world, where the population grows by thousands each day, the needs of people are amplified. In arid countries/regions (i.e. Libya, the Western Sahara region), the lack of water and population growth, for example, are causing increasing problems between citizen and government. The citizen suffers and feels helpless because the government is not effective at doing its job of protecting its

There are a variety of causes held responsible for the water crisis in Africa. These causes have been taken from African’s control and desperately need to be solved. Climate change is one of the countless reasons that there is a high demand for water in Africa. An article entitled “Africa’s Water Crisis Deepens” written for the 2006 News Scientist, states that Drought, famine and spreading deserts have plagued Africa for the past 30 years. With the expansion of desertification, the process in which land becomes increasingly dry with little to no water resources, areas of land have dried out and are useless to humans due to the lack of rainfall on the African continent over the past several years.

Desertification is a term few people recognize and even fewer are concerned about. This paper will cover what desertification is along with why it is a global crisis, what the root causes of desertification are, what can be done to reverse the harm full desertification process, it will also cover how farmers can work together to prevent future desertification.

Climate change. A phrase that encompasses a vast wealth of information, the totality of which is difficult to fathom let alone concisely elaborate upon in a condensed format such as a course or writing assignment. Through this course, the interconnectedness with which humans influence the balance of climate change is abundantly clear. Ecosystems plants and animals depend on are all connected and influencing one another but these scales are imbalanced, mostly as a result of human activities. The web of interconnectivity in climate change is complex, but there is a reemerging consensus at it’s core that human actions, such as global development, has major ramifications and the health and welfare of people and the environment are paying the price. Those daring enough to say they aren’t influencing climate change haven’t truly examined the many facets of their lives consuming energy and in turn increasing carbon emissions that alter climate. For most, transportation is a necessity. This usage requires energy consumption, most likely in the form of fossil fuel resource depletion and in turn the generation of carbon emissions. Transportation routes by land or sea may alter ecosystems that further elevate carbon emissions. With an understanding that the topic of climate change and carbon emissions is massive at best, the aim of this assignment will be to provide the reader with a basic understanding of greenhouse gases and carbon emissions and the relation to climate change. A

Desertification is the development of desert-like conditions in regions that have experienced human disturbance (Laura, n.d.). Drought, growing population and war are factors affecting desertification. They have their tremendous impacts; however, they can be solved.