UN Climate Change News, 27 October 2020 - Increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing precipitation patterns and more extreme weather are threatening human health and safety, food and water security and socio-economic development in Africa, according to a new report devoted exclusively to the continent. Coupled with wind erosion, the topsoil blows away and leaves a desert-like land. Farming Practices. In areas of low precipitation, like Sub-Saharan Africa, long droughts that turn arid land to unproductive, barren soil are a frequent cause of desertification. What are the 3 main causes of desertification in Africa ... Desertification in Africa Table 1. million hectares per annum, according to UNEP (1984). The Approximately 35% of Earth's land is . Top 10 Causes Of Drought In Africa - Information What is desertification? What are the causes and effects ... Called CLIMBER-2 (for CLIMate and BiosphERe, version 2.1), the model led to the conclusion that the desertification of North Africa began abruptly 5,440 years ago (+/- 30 years). Drought, rain pat- Desertification is a form of land degradation by which fertile land becomes desert. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change (particularly the current global warming) and overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity. However, rapidly increasing population densities in the drylands of Africa, Asia, and Latin America have upset the former balance upon which subsistence agriculture depended, including long fallow periods to allow the . For poor people, migration is a complex and costly venture. Desertification in African Countries Other factors that cause desertification include urbanization, climate change, overdrafting of groundwater, deforestation, natural disasters and tillage practices in agriculture that place soils more vulnerable to wind. Desertification in Senegal and Beyond Agriculture in Africa tends to result in low productivity, as most of the land is characterized as a semi-desert. What is a major result of desertification? removal of the natural vegetation cover(by taking too much fuel wood), agricultural activities in the vulnerable ecosystems of arid and semi-arid areas, which are thus strained beyond their capacity. Soil loss due to wind erosion was ten to 15 cm, and sand loss, 20 to 150 cm for a total economic damage of […] Additional Resources If you are looking to buy affordable land, you can check out our Listings page. These include indirect factors such as population pressure, socioeconomic and policy factors, and international trade as well as direct factors such as land use patterns and practices and climate-related processes. Desertification is caused by a combination of factors that change over time and vary by location. It negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services. The Causes of Desertification Desertification is caused by a number of different issues. Land becomes bare and unprotected, increasing the drought of the land. The sahel is a semi arid region of north central Africa south of the sahara desert. Africa. Other factors that cause desertification include urbanization, climate change, overdrafting of groundwater, deforestation, natural disasters and tillage practices in agriculture that place soils more vulnerable to wind. It is a gradual process of soil productivity loss and the thinning out of the vegetative cover because of human activities and climatic variations such as prolonged droughts and floods. Losing productive Marc . The Sahel, the area bellow the Sarah that is turning into dessert, has been experiencing a prolonged drought (lower than normal rainfall) for about forty years. What are the 3 main causes of desertification in Africa? The direct causes of desertification can be broadly divided between those relating to how the land is - or isn't - managed and those relating to the climate. Desertification is the degradation process by which a fertile land changes itself into a desert by losing its flora and fauna, this can be caused by drought, deforestation, climate change, human activities or improper agriculture. What are the effects of desertification in Africa? Desertification is, "land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities". In general, desertification is caused by variations in climate and by unsustainable land-management practices in dryland environments. These include indirect factors such as population pressure, socioeconomic and policy factors, and international trade as well as direct factors such as land use patterns and practices and climate-related processes.. Desertification is taking place due to indirect factors driving unsustainable use . Desertification in Africa and the Sahara . In Africa it is strongly linked to poverty, food security, hunger, migration and conflicts over limited water and grazing resources. Poor land management practices such as these often stem from the socioeconomic conditions in which the farmers live, and can be prevented. The problem is most severe in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. Desertification in Africa is a complexed problem because it's related to the poverty which causes the misuse of agriculture land to produce as much of the crop as possible, which leads to soil degradation and thus erosion, which marks the beginning of desertification. Facts. The following regions provide just a few examples. " some of the main causes are overgrazing and overusing soil. The main causes of desertification include: Population growth -. 4. Desertification has been described as the "the greatest environmental challenge of our time" and climate change is making it worse. they face poverty and experience many people in poverty. While desertification is a serious issue, the world can combat this phenomenon by understanding the causes of desertification and implementing actions that will help regenerate arable land. The Causes of Desertification Desertification is caused by a number of different issues. The degradation of drylands in Africa is forcing people who can no longer make a living off the land to move to urban areas. Desertification is taking place in the Sahel partly because of the low annual rainfall but mostly because of effects off human activities such as overgrazing. Desertification is a process that destroys fertile land. Human hands or natural occurrences can exacerbate or spark desertification. What is causing desertification in China? Studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover. Residents collect water in one of the many wells dug in the bed of a dried-up river in the Dierma region of Burkina Faso. Land degradation and desertification is a major challenge for humanity and affects over two billion people. A string of dry years shriveled vegetation in Africa's Sahel, causing some to fear that the Sahara Desert was shifting south. Before that time,. Deforestation. Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. The sahel has been turning in to the desert since the late 1940s, this has been caused by drought, population increase, overcultivation, over grazing and cutting firewood. Over 50 million people could move from the desertified areas of sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa and Europe by 2020. Its causes include over-cropping, over-grazing, improper irrigation practices, and deforestation. The CLIMBER-2 models showed that feedbacks within the climate and vegetation systems were the major cause of Saharan desertification, building rapidly upon the effects of the initial orbital changes. Desertification is the result of a combination of factors, including soil erosion, deforestation, overgrazing, and periodic droughts. Level kmz WHY IS AFRICA BUILDING A GREAT GREEN WALL? Human hands or natural occurrences can exacerbate or spark desertification. It also causes the already vast Sahara desert to spread to more places than just where it currently is. The most vulnerable region is a 3,000-mile stretch of land that includes ten countries in the Sahel region of Africa. . The initiative is Africa's flagship response to combat climate change and desertification, through large-scale restoration for small-scale farming across North Africa, the Sahel and Southern Africa, applying a transformative approach that improves landscapes . The causes of desertification are both natural and man-made. Having described the pattern of rainfall-producing systems in the country, attention now focuses on some of the causes of periods of insufficient rainfall and droughts.The forcing mechanisms for droughts are well documented for the southern African region (see, e.g., Tyson, 1986; Mason and Jury, 1997; Lindesay, 1998; Tyson and Preston-Whyte, 2000). " Desertification is caused by a combination of factors that change over time and vary by location. Overgrazing is the major cause of desertification worldwide. Deforestation 4. It has also been noted that desertification can have far reaching physical and socio-economic impacts. Sudan is in north eastern Africa and is suffering greatly from desertification. Desertification is the result of complex interactions among various factors, including climate change and human activities. ation is most severe in Africa, where 66% of the total land area is arid or semi-arid. While the term may bring to mind the windswept sand dunes of the Sahara or the vast salt pans of the Kalahari, it's an issue that reaches far beyond those living in and around the world's deserts, threatening the food security and livelihoods of more than . Deforestation. Vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the soil. sub-Saharan. Overgrazing is the major cause of desertification worldwide. It is also caused by human activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility. Desertification is happening at an estimated 20,000 hectares per. Not only is desertification harmful to the earth and its inhabitants, but it is also expensive - each year, the world loses US$42 billion to desertification and its effects. Sahel is . Unsustainable water management 5. Explanation: The population in Africa is mostly poor, and because of that often it is uneducated and not informed properly. Desertification is one of the most pressing environmental problems of our time, with Antarctica the only continent currently unaffected. The Sahel region in Africa is one of the worst affected places on Earth. This band of dry land extends across the African continent from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. Additionally, by 2050 about 9 billion people will be dependent on worsening food conditions. The obvious causes of desertification and deforestation consist of major ecosystem changes, such as land conversion for various purposes, over-dependence on natural resources and several forms of unsustainable land use. The rainfall in Sudan is very low, some areas only get up to 24 millimeters of . Causes of Desertification: Deforestation: The most important cause is the loss of vegetation. It can change the landscape, destroy the productivity of the land, and it is extremely harmful to the biodiversity of an ecosystem.Jan 24, 2014 Popul. What is desertification causes? 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