Desertification Essay -- essays research papers fc

The worlds dry plays, contrary to popular misconceptions of being barren unfertile land, contain some of the or so valuable and vital ecosystems on the planet. These dryland environments devote surprising diversity and resiliency, supporting over two billion people, near thirty-five percent of the global population (UNEP, 2003). In fact, approximately lxx percent of Africans depend directly on drylands for their daily livelihood (UNEP, 2003). However, these singular and crucial areas are at a crossroad, endangered and threatened by the devastating process of desertification. There are over one nose candy 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 adult male activities and climate variations, often leading to the permanent loss of soil productiveness 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(prenominal) 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 westernmost 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 adjoin 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 o f the deaths of over 100,000 people and 12 million cattle, as well as the disruption of social organizations from villages to the field of study level (USGS, 1997). As a result of the catastrophic devastation in the Sahel, the United Nations practice to Combat ravageification (UNCCD) was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1977, where an agreement was reached to decimate desertification by the year 2000. Obviously this goal was not achi... ...esertification in Desert Margins. 2002. .Smith, Olanrewaju, et al. Desertification Myths and Realities. 10 June 1999. .Sweet, Lois. Margins of Hope. 26 May 1999. .Tiempo Climate. Desertification and climate change. 1993. .UNCCD Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Knowledge Base. 19 March 2003. .UNDP United Nations ontogenesis Programme. Drylands Development Centre. 2003. .UNEP United Nations milieu Programme. Drylands. 2003. USGS United States Geological Survey. Desertification. 29 October 1997. .Warren, Andrew, et al. An assessment of desertification and land degradation in arid and semi-arid areas. London International Institute for Environment and Development, 1988.Waser, Katherine. The Convention to Combat Desertification Part 1 Africa and the Mediterranean. 1996. .WHO Africa World Health physical composition Regional Office for Africa. Malaria Control. 19 October 2003. WHO Denmark World Health Organization. Desertification and drought greatly affects Africans health. 10 December 2002. .Wu, Jianguo. Desertification. Phoenix Arizona State University West, Department of invigoration Sciences, 2001.