Desertification risks

Desertification: nearly 1.5 billion live in extremely high-risk region.

Desertification refers to soil degradation in arid or semi-arid regions, which leads to significant reduction is the productivity of ecosystems. Desertification is caused by a combination of bad climate conditions and human activity mindless of the ecological equilibrium of these fragile regions. If unchecked the phenomenon diminishes the ability of ecosystems to weather climate changes, and can lead to irreversible loss of arable land, i.e. to desert conditions. Desertification should not be thought of as a simple extension of existing deserts, but rather as a form of soil degradation unfolding in several dry areas of the globe, aggravated by growing human pressures.

It is estimated that 250 million suffer the effects of desertification, and that over 40% of the world population lives in vulnerable areas. It was this peril that led to the ratification of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which entered into force in December 1996, to which 180 countries are Parties.

Global desertification risk was mapped in 1999, combining desertification vulnerability maps (created with soil and climate data) and population density maps. The combined result is evaluated on four levels: low, moderate, high, and very high risk. No risk is calculated for dry and cold regions, glaciers or permanently cold regions, and humid (non-vulnerable) regions.

Of the world’s regions prone to desertification (totalling 43.2 million km2), 16.5% are low-risk, 20% moderate-risk, 36% high-risk, and 27.5% very high-risk. This last percentage affects 1.4 billion people living in immediate danger.