Desertification

LAND DEGRADATION AND DESERTIFICATION

Index

1. Introduction

2. Types Of Degradation

3. Implications Of Degradation

4. Causes Of Desertification

5. Why we need to stop Messing with this planet or we all gonna DIE!!!!

6. Tips and Tricks to not wipe the human race off this planet :)

7. The current status quo

Introduction

What Is Land Degradation ?The Bio-Physical effects induced on a land by a combination of Human activity is called Degradation What is Desertification? Desertification is a type of land degradation in dry lands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. Desertification starts with the imbalance of an ecosystem by which it stops providing ecosystem services to all the life forms habiting the environment such as food, water,fuel etc. The long term persistence of this imbalance especially on lands with very little water resources results in desertification.

How is Land Degradation Caused ?

Chemical Actions

Physical Actions

Biological Actions

Implications Of Degradation

• A temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land. This can be as loss of biomass, a loss of actual productivity or in potential productivity, or a loss or change in vegetative cover and soil nutrients.

• Reduction in the land's capacity to provide resources for human livelihoods.

• Loss of biodiversity

• Shifting ecological risk: increased vulnerability of the environment or people to destruction or crisis. This is measured through a base line in the form of pre-existing risk of crisis or destruction.

• According to the United Nations almost 1/3 rd of all Ice free land of Earth is currently under the risk of Human induced Land Degradation.

• By far the biggest threat from Degradation that Humans are currently facing is the fast approachng and overwhelming speed of Desertification.

10%

10%

Causes Of Desertification

Human Activities

Climatic changes

DESERTIFICATION DUE TO CLIMATIC CHANGE

• Climate change may exacerbate desertfication through alteration of spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, rainfall, solar radiation and winds .

• Soil properties and processes including organic matter decomposition, leaching, and soil water regimes will be influenced by temperature increase.

• At lower latitudes, especially seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases (1-2°C).

DESERTIFICATION THROUGH HUMAN ACTIVITIES

2. Industrial Growth And Urbanisation

1. Agricultural Expansion

3. Mining

Problem Lies In the Numbers

Northern China

Southern China

Population

45%

GDP

40%

Water

20%

Farmland

60%

Arable Land

50%

TIME FOR CHINA TO PAY THE BILL ? The Gobi desert is expanding almost 2500 miles a year and threatens the survivability of China’s farmland along with the Existence of the entire Tibetan glacier. China is pouring Billions of dollars into building artificial forests and to increase forest cover in the North from the current 5% to 15% by 2050. At the current rate of growth the Gobi desert is expected to join with the Karakoram desert of Central Asia and form a Huge Mega dessert stretching from Mongolia to Southern Russia.

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Implications Of Desertification

• Agricultural production in many African regions is projected to be severely compromised by climate variability and change. The area suitable for agriculture, the length of growing seasons and yield potential, particularly along the margins of semi-arid and arid areas, are expected to decrease; • In the drier areas of Latin America, climate change is expected to lead to salinisation and desertification of agricultural land; • In Southern Europe, higher temperatures and more frequent drought are expected to reduce water availability, hydropower potential, and, in general, crop productivity.

The Siberian Paradox

The Ticking Time Bomb

• The Permafrost is ground which has been laying permanently cold for a duration of 2 years or more.
• The Siberian Permafrost has been laying cold for Millenia.
• The Permafrost are huge reserves of methane that has been stored in the earth’s crust collected through thousands of years.
• The current melting and the subsequent release of Gigatons(One Billion ton) of Methane will have catastrophic efftects for the planet.

13.6%

Total

860

Gigatons

1600

Gigatons

A Growing Mountain Of Utter Destruction

Point Of No Return

More Human Exploitation

Melting Of the Permafrost

Climate Change

UnsustainableHuman Activity

Two Deserts We Must Protect at all Costs

The Arctic Circle

The Antarctic Circle

*Or whatever is left of it

Largest Deserts In the World

How can Desertification be Reversed ?

1. In order to prevent and reverse desertification, major policy interventions and changes in management approaches are needed.
2. Such interventions should be implemented at local to global scales, with the active engagement of stakeholders and local communities. Societal and policy actions need to adjust to the degree of desertification that a society faces or is likely to face.
3. In areas where desertification processes are at the early stages or are relatively minor, it is possible to stop the process and restore key services in the degraded areas.
4. Prevention is a lot more cost-effective than rehabilitation, and this should be taken into account in policy decisions.
5. Addressing desertification is critical and essential to meeting the Millennium Development Goals which aim to eradicate extreme poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability amongst other objectives.

The Status Quo

1. The increasing amount of instability and damages caused by desertification has been brought into the light by The United Nations who formed The United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification on 17th June 1994.

2. The convention aims to prevent and reverse the effects of desertification through Sustainable Development and Action plans ranging from the local to international initiatives. It is an Internationally Binding Agreement ratified by almost 196 countries around the world and Super States such as the European Union.

3. With investments in renewable energy hitting a new record with each passing year the organization advices all countries to reduce dependance on mining of Carbon emmiting resources like coal and natural gas as fast as possible . 4. Along with adopting sustainable methods of agriculture such as drip irrigation, which only uses 1/10th of the water thereby conserving the water table.

Africa’s Great Desertification Crisis

Sahara Desert

Khartoum, Sudan

The Sudanese Grasslands

The Sahel

Lake Chad is one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world and the lake has shrunk by 95% in the past 50 years.Almost 30 million people depend on the lake for daily water usage, the lake and its basin is a major source for maintaining the African Sahel and its depletion will further aggravate the growth of the Sahara.

The Great African Green Wall

The great African green wall is a trans-national effort spearheaded by the UNCCD to plant an artificial forest in the Sahel region of Africa. When completed it will stretch from Senegal in the West to Ethiopia in the east. This project stretching approximately 7500 Km if completed on time will halt the Southern march of the Sahara desert into Sub Saharan Africa.

Renewable Energy Market value

Trillion

Trillion

250

Billion

2010

2020

2030