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CLIMATE CHANGE HURTS DESERTS, TOO

By Melissa Pandika

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Drylands Are Getting Even Drier

Source Chen Jianli/Corbis


WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

You know about the impact of climate change on rainforests and oceans. But the
picture isn’t complete without the delicate web of life being slowly parched in
the world’s deserts and drylands. 







We often picture climate change drying up rainforests, oceans and other hotbeds
of biodiversity. But what happens to regions that are already dry? Far from
barren, deserts and drylands sustain a surprising variety of animal species, as
well as human life — but not for long, if global temperatures continue to rise.
Climate change and human activity are disturbing these delicate ecosystems, and
new research shows it could have serious environmental, human and economic
consequences. 


UP TO 20%

Amount of the world’s drylands that are degraded


$40 BILLION

Economic losses associated with this drylands degradation

Climate change-induced drought, overgrazing and unsustainable farming practices
lead to a loss of vegetation, which in turn further parches arid lands by
exposing infertile lower soil layers that are less able to support agriculture
and wildlife — a process known as desertification . A U.N.-backed report
released by the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) in September found that up
to one-fifth of drylands are degraded, resulting in estimated economic losses of
about $40 billion per year.

A Somali man leads his drought-stricken camels to a water point northwest of
Somalia’s capital Mogadishu in 2011. (Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)




 
        

But as we approach 2014 – the halfway point in the U.N.’s Decade for Deserts and
the Fight against Desertification – desertification remains largely invisible in
the conservation agenda. It get little press and is rarely addressed by
policymakers. 


STALLED DEVELOPMENT

Despite its low priority, desertification exacts a steep human cost. Drylands,
which occupy roughly 40 percent of the Earth’s land area, are home to two
billion people, mostly in developing African nations. According to the ELD
report, annual global losses of arable land can reach 10 million hectares per
year, an area roughly the size of Austria. Poor productivity in arid regions
also makes them less attractive to investment, which excludes them from
development.  


KEY TERMS

Land degradation: A reduction in the economic value of ecosystem services and
goods derived from land as a result of human activity or natural biophysical
evolution, according to a U.N. report.

Desertification: Vegetation loss parches arid lands, exposing infertile lower
soil layers that can’t support agriculture or wildlife.


FOOD INSECURITY

Although the poor suffer most from desertification, we may all end up feeling
its impact. The decline in arable land renews concerns about the world’s ability
to feed a booming population. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization
predicts that the demand for food will increase 60 percent by 2050, which will
require an additional 120 million hectares of agricultural land. That’s a farm
the size of South Africa.

The good news? Adopting sustainable land management — such as crop rotation,
which involves growing different crops in succession in the same field – could
increase world crop supplies by an estimated 2.3 billion tons, worth $1.4
trillion. Managed grazing practices – such as letting livestock graze on only
one portion of pasture while allowing others to recover – might also help, the
report added. 

 


Wildlife in these regions is also on the decline. Last Tuesday, the Wildlife
Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London reported that half of the
species historically found in the Sahara Desert are approaching extinction, most
likely due to desertification and overhunting. Seven out of 14 species
historically found in the Sahara, the world’s largest tropical desert, are
regionally extinct or confined to 10 percent or less of their historical range.
The lion, African wild dog and a type of antelope called the bubal hartebeest
have vanished entirely from the region. Other species have fared only slightly
better. Only the Nubian ibex still inhabits most of its historical range, but
it’s still classified as vulnerable.  

Violence and instability across the region contribute to a lack of studies,
which makes it hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the wildlife decline, but
desertification and overhunting are the most likely culprits, researchers say.

“The Sahara serves as an example of a wider historical neglect of deserts and
the human communities who depend on them,” conservation biologist and study
leader Sarah Durant said in a statement.

This may be our last opportunity to put deserts back on the radar. The longer we
treat them as invsible, the more likely they actually will vanish – and the
desert communities and ecosystems along with them.

 * Melissa Pandika, OZY Author Contact Melissa Pandika

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The Daily Dose December 10, 2013

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