How does desertification affect the environment?

Desertification affects topsoil, groundwater reserves, surface runoff, human, animal, and plant populations. Water scarcity in drylands limits the production of wood, crops, forage, and other services that ecosystems provide to our community.

How can desertification affect humans?

Land degradation and desertification can affect human health through complex pathways. As land is degraded and deserts expand in some places, food production is reduced, water sources dry up and populations are pressured to move to more hospitable areas. the spread of infectious diseases as populations migrate.

What is the impact of drought and desertification on the environment?

Desertification, an extreme form of land degradation, is a global phenomenon that is influenced by and has an impact on climate change and biodiversity loss. Land degradation causes a decline in land productivity and is therefore likely to lead to increased levels of poverty.

Why is desertification a global problem?

Desertification contributes to global climate change by increasing exposed land surface, hence albedo; increasing the potential and decreasing the actual evapotranspiration rate; changing the ground surface energy budget and adjoining air temperature; and adding dust and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

What are the negative impact that desertification has on economy?

The impact of desertification on the socio-economic life of rural households leads to reduction in crop and animal production, as well as causing, livestock deaths and rise in the prices of foodstuffs.

What is the effect of deforestation on humans?

But deforestation is having another worrisome effect: an increase in the spread of life-threatening diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. For a host of ecological reasons, the loss of forest can act as an incubator for insect-borne and other infectious diseases that afflict humans.

Why are developing countries more vulnerable to drought than developed countries?

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to drought because of their geography and strong dependence on subsistence agriculture. The highly diversified economies of developed countries mitigate its effects, but do not eliminate human stress and major economic loss.

Are deserts expanding or shrinking?

New study finds that the world’s largest desert grew by 10 percent since 1920, due in part to climate change. Summary: The Sahara Desert has expanded by about 10 percent since 1920, according to a new study.

What are some problems in the desert?

Global warming is increasing the incidence of drought, which dries up water holes. Higher temperatures may produce an increasing number of wildfires that alter desert landscapes by eliminating slow-growing trees and shrubs and replacing them with fast-growing grasses.

Are deserts increasing or decreasing?

Is drought an environmental issue?

The environment is directly impacted by drought. Drought can affect water sources, land, fish and wildlife and plant communities. Wildlife habitat may become degraded because poor soil quality and inadequate water may affect plant growth, and there may not be enough drinking water for animals.