Imagine a world of deserts …

General information on desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land by erosion. It occurs most often in dry areas, where human activity or climate change (or both) have had a major impact on an area. The fresh water supply and soil can be easily destroyed, and if the land degrades, the drylands will not be able to renew soil and water resources and will become a desert. Due to the loss of plants and trees by human activity, erosion also destroys most of the top layer of dryland soil, disabling any vegetation, leading to famines and loss of biodiversity in the area.

What Causes Desertification?

The main causes of desertification are overgrazing of livestock, over-cultivation of crops, deforestation, increasing number of fires per year, excessive use of groundwater, increased amount of salt in the soil and climate change. Overgrazing and fires cause the destruction of plants in the drylands, destroying the biodiversity of the drylands. Over cultivation and increased salinity can lead to destruction of the topsoil, which is important for crops. In vegetated areas, the land is usually cooler than other drylands and prevents dryland winds from eroding the topsoil. Climate change and droughts can cause a decrease in the amount of fresh water, which will prevent plants from growing.

All of these processes involve overpopulation of the drylands. Where there are more humans, there will be destruction of the drylands.

What is being done to stop desertification?

To stop desertification, we must analyze the causes of desertification. There is no other way to eliminate the effect of overgrazing or over cultivation of the land except by not using the land. This is not a smart way to stop desertification, as humans need the food and other resources that come from the drylands. However, to stop erosion, there have been some tree belts, rows of trees that prevent the wind from blowing away the top layer of soil in drylands. In Northeast China, there will be a “Green Wall of China” to be cultivated. It is a wall of trees that is almost as long as the Great Wall of China. For the loss of fresh water, humans should use the idea of ​​sustainable resources so that water can be saved. Furthermore, in some areas, legume plants have been used to extract nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil to restore soil fertility. Also, to combat deforestation, people have been using heat to an advantage with solar cooking instead of using firewood for fuel.

How has desertification affected us?

Desertification is like a monster, devouring the land it passes through. It is worse than a hurricane, earthquake, or fire. Once it is somewhere, it is really difficult to get that place back, because it makes it difficult for plants to grow by destroying the soil and things cannot live there because there is no water. Desertification is like the disease of the land. In China, desertification is spreading very rapidly. China’s ever-increasing population rate is causing the death of much of its territory. Deserts and storms will inflict $ 50 billion on China’s economy. (Bill Gates only has $ 60 billion, just a random thought) Dust storms caused by desertification will destroy much of the country’s agriculture. Isn’t this bad enough? Also, in America in the 1930s, there was the Dust Bowl on the Great Plains, causing many people to leave their homes. People caused the Dust Bowl by not cultivating properly and there was also a drought at the time. In the Sahel kingdoms in Africa, desertification and drought caused the death of more than 100,000 people. Every day, people die from poverty and hunger, but have you thought about the causes of all this? It is the poor quality of the land and the lack of water that causes these deaths. If desertification stopped, there would be no poverty.