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The End Of Eden - Desertification In Africa. Africa ... The greatest of all man's
disturbance of the natural balance is desertification. Desertification ...
Desertification. Essay: What is desertification, where is it found, and what
are the causes? Desertification is the process by which ...
Desertification. Desertification Desertification is the process by which land
dries up eventually over time and the land turning to desert. ...
Desertification. ... However, these precious and crucial areas are at a crossroad,
endangered and threatened by the devastating process of desertification. ...
... Desertification Desertification is the expansion of dry lands due to poor agricultural
practices (eg overgrazing, degradation of soil fertility and structure ...
Submitted by canadiankid on April 2, 2005
Category: Miscellaneous
Words: 3521 | Pages: 15
Views: 190
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The world's drylands, contrary to popular misconceptions of being barren unproductive land, contain some of the most valuable and vital ecosystems on the planet. These dryland environments have surprising diversity and resiliency, supporting over two billion people, approximately thirty-five percent of the global population (UNEP, 2003). In fact, approximately seventy percent of Africans depend directly on drylands for their daily livelihood (UNEP, 2003). However, these precious and crucial areas are at a crossroad, endangered and threatened by the devastating process of desertification. There are over one hundred definitions for the term desertification', however the most widely used and current definition is as follows: desertification refers to the land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions due to human activities and climate variations, often leading to the permanent loss of soil productivity and the thinning out of the vegetative cover (UNCCD, 2003). It is important to note that desertification is not the expansion and contraction of deserts or hyper-arid territories, which grow and decrease both naturally and cyclically. French ecologist Louis Lavauden first used the term desertification in 1927 and French botanist Andre Aubreville, when witnessing the land degradation occurring in North and West Africa in 1949 popularized this term (Dregne, 242). The causes of desertification include overgrazing, overcultivation, deforestation and poor irrigation practices. Climatic variations, such as changes in wind speed, precipitation and temperature can influence or increase desertification rates, but they are not catalysts to the process- it is the exploitative actions of humans that trigger desertification (Glantz, 146). The most exploited area historically has been Africa. In the Sahel (transition zone between the Sahara and the Savanna) of West Africa during the period of 1968 to 1973, desertification was a main cause of the deaths...
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