Ship stranded by the retreat of the Aral Sea

Desertification (or desertization) is the degradation of land in arid, semi arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting primarily from human activities and influenced by climatic variations. The Aral Sea ( Kazakh: Арал Теңізі Aral Tengizi, Orol dengizi Russian: Аральскοе мοре Tajik / Persian: Daryocha-i Land degradation are a concept in which the value of the Biophysical environment is affected by one or more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land In general terms the Climate of a local or region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available Water, to the extent of hindering A Semi-arid climate or steppe climate generally describes climatic regions that receive low annual Rainfall (250-500 mm or 10-20 in Humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa or Cwa) is a climate zone characterized by hot humid summers and chilly to mild winters Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of Current desertification is taking place much faster worldwide than historically and usually arises from the demands of increased populations that settle on the land in order to grow crops and graze animals. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture

A major impact of desertification is biodiversity loss and loss of productive capacity, for example, by transition from land dominated by perennial grasses to one dominated by perennial shrubs. Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. Productive capacity is a term used to define maximum possible output of an Economy. In the southwestern deserts of the United States, semiarid ecosystems dominated by perennial bunchgrasses, including blue grama and black grama, have been replaced by shrublands dominated by creosotebush since the early 1900s. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Blue grama ( Bouteloua gracilis (Willd ex Kunth Lag ex Griffiths is a long-lived warm season C4 perennial Grass native to North Black grama ( Bouteloua eriopoda) is a perennial prairie grass native to the Southwestern United States Larrea tridentata, known as creosote bush (or chaparral when used as a medicinal herb is a Flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae The change in vegetation is thought to have induced desertification in this region. In Madagascar's central highland plateau, 10% of the entire country has been lost to desertification due to slash and burn agriculture by indigenous peoples. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of Forests or Woodlands to create fields for Agriculture or Pasture for Livestock, or In Africa, if current trends of soil degradation continue, the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa. The (UNU is an agency of the United Nations established in Tokyo in 1973 to "research into the pressing global problems of human survival development ^[1]

Causes

Landsat image of sand dunes advancing on Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. The Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space Nouakchott ( Arabic: or translation from [[Berber languages|Berber] "The place of the winds"] Nawākšūṭ is the Capital and by far the largest Mauritania (موريتانيا Mūrītāniyā officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country

Desertification is induced by several factors, primarily anthropogenic beginning the Holocene era. The Holocene is a Geological epoch which began approximately 10000 years ago (about 8000 BC The primary reasons for desertification are overgrazing, over cultivation, water impoundment, deforestation, overdrafting of groundwater, increased soil salinity, and global climate change. Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to Livestock Grazing for extended periods of time or without sufficient recovery periods A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland Overdrafting is the process of extracting Groundwater beyond the safe yield or equilibrium yield of the Aquifer. Groundwater is Water located beneath the Ground surface in Soil pore spaces and in the Fractures of lithologic formations Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil Salt affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts typically most pronounced at the soil surface Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences ^[2]

Deserts may be separated from surrounding, less arid areas by mountains and other contrasting landforms that reflect fundamental structural differences in the terrain. In other areas, desert fringes form a gradual transition from a dry to a more humid environment, making it more subtle to determine the desert border. These transition zones can have fragile, delicately balanced ecosystems. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( Desert fringes often are a mosaic of microclimates. A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the Climate differs from the surrounding area Small hollows support vegetation that picks up heat from the hot winds and protects the land from the prevailing winds. The prevailing winds are the trends in speed and direction of Wind over a particular point on the Earth 's surface After rainfall the vegetated areas are distinctly cooler than the surroundings.

In these marginal areas human activity may stress the ecosystem beyond its tolerance limit, resulting in degradation of the land. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( By pounding the soil with their hooves, livestock compact the substrate, increase the proportion of fine material, and reduce the percolation rate of the soil, thus encouraging erosion by wind and water. Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food In Physics, Chemistry and Materials science, percolation concerns also the movement and filtering of fluids through porous materials Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Grazing and collection of firewood reduce or eliminate plants that bind the soil and prevent erosion. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind All these come about due to the trend towards settling in one area instead of a nomadic culture.

Sand dunes can encroach on human habitats. In physical Geography, a dune is a Hill of Sand built by Aeolian processes. Sand dunes move through a few different means, all of them assisted by wind. One way that dunes can move is through saltation, where sand particles skip along the ground like a rock thrown across a pond might skip across the water's surface. For definition and other use disambiguation see Saltation In Geology, saltation (from Latin, saltus, "leap" When these skipping particles land, they may knock into other particles and cause them to skip as well. With slightly stronger winds, particles collide in mid-air, causing sheet flows. In a major dust storm, dunes may move tens of meters through such sheet flows. And like snow, sand avalanches, falling down the steep slopes of the dunes that face away from the winds, also moving the dunes forward. This article refers to the natural event For other uses see Avalanche (disambiguation An avalanche is an abrupt and rapid flow of snow often

It is a common misconception that droughts by themselves cause desertification. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply While drought is a contributing factor, the root causes are all related to man's overexploitation of the environment. There is no geological evidence that deserts expanded significantly before the advent of civilization. Droughts are common in arid and semiarid lands, and well-managed lands can recover from drought when the rains return. Continued land abuse during droughts, however, increases land degradation. Increased population and livestock pressure on marginal lands has accelerated desertification. In some areas, nomads moving to less arid areas disrupt the local ecosystem and increase the rate of erosion of the land. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Nomads typically try to escape the desert, but because of their land-use practices, they are bringing the desert with them. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that

Some arid and semi-arid lands can support crops, but additional pressure from greater populations or decreases in rainfall can lead to the few plants present disappearing. The soil becomes exposed to wind, causing soil particles to be deposited elsewhere. Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam Zadel Wind is the flow of Air or other Gases that compose an Atmosphere (including but not limited to the Earth's) The top layer becomes eroded. With the removal of shade, rates of evaporation increase and salts become drawn up to the surface. Evaporation is the process by which Molecules in a Liquid state (e This increases soil salinity which inhibits plant growth. Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil Salt affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts typically most pronounced at the soil surface The loss of plants causes less moisture to be retained in the area, which may change the climate pattern leading to lower rainfall. Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of

This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend toward greater aridity, or it may initiate a change in local climate. Desertification does not occur in linear, easily mappable patterns. Deserts advance erratically, forming patches on their borders. Areas far from natural deserts can degrade quickly to barren soil, rock, or sand through poor land management. The presence of a nearby desert has no direct relationship to desertification. Unfortunately, an area undergoing desertification is brought to public attention only after the process is well under way. Often little data are available to indicate the previous state of the ecosystem or the rate of degradation.

Combating desertification is complex and difficult, usually impossible without alteration of land management practises that led to the desertification. Over-exploitation of the land and climate variations can have identical impacts and be connected in feedbacks, which makes it very difficult to choose the right mitigation strategy. Investigating the historic desertification plays a special role since it allows better distinguishing of human and natural factors. The Mediterranean and its transition Zones to the Deserts are characterized by impressive Roman and Byzantine ruins which are subject of discussion In this context, recent research about historic desertification in Jordan questions the dominant role of man. It seems possible that current measures like reforestation projects cannot achieve their goals if global warming continues. Forests may die when it gets drier, and more frequent extreme events as testified in sediments from earlier periods could become a threat for agriculture, water supply, and infrastructure.

Prehistoric patterns

Desertification is a historic phenomenon; the world's great deserts were formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independent of human activities. Paleodeserts, large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, some extending beyond the present margins of core deserts, such as the Sahara. An erg (also sand sea or dune sea) is a large relatively flat area of Desert covered with Wind -swept Sand with little to no vegetation The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest Many deserts in western Asia arose because of an overpopulation of prehistoric species and subspecies during the late Cretaceous era. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of

Dated fossil pollen indicates that today's Sahara desert has been changing between desert and fertile savanna. Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil Palynomorphs including Pollen, Spores, Dinoflagellate Cysts Acritarchs Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of microgametophytes ( pollen grains) which produce the male Gametes (sperm cells of The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. A savanna or savannah is a Tropical or Subtropical Grassland or Woodland Ecosystem. Studies also show that prehistorically the advance and retreat of deserts tracked yearly rainfall, whereas a pattern of increasing amounts of desert began with human-driven activities of overgrazing and deforestation. Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to Livestock Grazing for extended periods of time or without sufficient recovery periods Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland

A chief difference of prehistoric versus present desertification is the much greater rate of desertification than in prehistoric and geologic time scales, due to anthropogenic influences. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit

Historical and current desertification

See also: Timeline of environmental events

Overgrazing and to a lesser extent drought in the 1930s transformed parts of the Great Plains in the United States into the "Dust Bowl". The timeline of environmental events is a historical account of events that have shaped humanity's perspective on the environment Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to Livestock Grazing for extended periods of time or without sufficient recovery periods A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply The Great Plains are the broad expanse of Prairie and Steppe which lie east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Dust Bowl, or the dirty thirties, was a period of severe Dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and During that time, a considerable fraction of the plains population abandoned their homes to escape the unproductive lands. Improved agricultural and water management have prevented a disaster of the earlier magnitude from recurring, but desertification presently affects tens of millions of people with primary occurrence in the lesser developed countries. Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties

Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image, with the actual lake in blue. Lake Chad (in French Lac Tchad) is a historically large shallow lake in Africa, whose size has varied greatly over the centuries The lake has shrunk by 95% since the 1960s. ^[3]

Desertification is widespread in many areas of the People's Republic of China. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES The populations of rural areas have increased since 1949 for political reasons as more people have settled there. While there has been an increase in livestock, the land available for grazing has decreased. Also the importing of European cattle such as Friesian and Simmental, which have higher food intakes, has made things worse. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The Holstein or Friesian is a Breed of Dairy cow known today as the world's highest production dairy animal

Human overpopulation is leading to destruction of tropical wet forests and tropical dry forests, due to widening practices of slash-and-burn and other methods of subsistence farming necessitated by famines in lesser developed countries. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest Biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of Forests or Woodlands to create fields for Agriculture or Pasture for Livestock, or Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficient farming in which farmers grow only enough food to feed the family and to pay taxes or feudal dues A sequel to the deforestation is typically large scale erosion, loss of soil nutrients and sometimes total desertification. Examples of this extreme outcome can be seen on Madagascar's central highland plateau, where about seven percent of the country's total land mass has become barren, sterile land. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern In Geology and Earth science, a plateau, also called a high plateau or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting

Overgrazing has made the Rio Puerco Basin of central New Mexico one of the most eroded river basins of the western United States and has increased the high sediment content of the river. Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to Livestock Grazing for extended periods of time or without sufficient recovery periods The Rio Puerco is a River in the American state of New Mexico, USA. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. ^[4] Overgrazing is also an issue with some regions of South Africa such as the Waterberg Massif, although restoration of native habitat and game has been pursued vigorously since about 1980. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The Waterberg Biosphere is a Massif of approximately 15000 square kilometers in north Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Another example of desertification occurring is in the Sahel. See also Sahel Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. The Sahel or Sahel Belt (from Arabic ساحل sāḥil The chief cause of desertification in the Sahel is slash-and-burn farming practised by an expanding human population. Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of Forests or Woodlands to create fields for Agriculture or Pasture for Livestock, or Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. ^[5] The Sahara is expanding south at an average rate of 30 miles per year. The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest ^[6]

The Desert of Maine is a 40 acre dune of glacial silt near Freeport, Maine. The Desert of Maine is a 40 acre tract of exposed glacial Silt (a sand-like substance but not actually Sand) in pine forest near Freeport "Glacial" and "Glaciation" redirect here For the geological periods see Glacial period. Freeport is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Overgrazing and soil erosion exposed the cap of the dune, revealing the desert as a small patch that continued to grow, overtaking the land. The site is maintained as a tourist attraction. ^[7]

Ghana^[8] and Nigeria currently experience desertification; in the latter, desertification overtakes about 1,355 square miles (3,510 km²) of land per year. The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal The Central Asian countries, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, are also affected. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Kyrgyzstan (ˈkɻ̩gɪztɑn (AmE or /'kɝgəztan/ (BrE Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан; Russian: Киргизия or Киргизстан or Кыргызстан Tajikistan (təˈdʒɪkɨstæn or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/ Тоҷикистон tɔʤikɪsˈtɔn or, Persian تاجیکستان‎ taajikestaan officially the Republic of Turkmenistan ( Türkmenistan; also known as Turkmenia) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly More than 80% of Afghanistan's land could be subject to soil erosion and desertification. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind ^[9] In Kazakhstan, nearly half of the cropland has been abandoned since 1980. Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the In Iran, sand storms were said to have buried 124 villages in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in 2002, and they had to be abandoned. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Sistān o Balūchestān ( Persian: استان سیستان و بلوچستان is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. In Latin America, Mexico and Brazil are affected by desertification. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld ^[10]

Countering desertification

Desertification has been recognized as a major threat to biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. Numerous countries have developed Biodiversity Action Plans to counter its effects, particularly in relation to the protection of endangered flora and fauna. This article is about a conservation biology topic For other uses of BAP see BAP (disambiguation. In Botany, flora ( Plural: floras or florae has two meanings The first meaning flora of an area or of time period, refers to all Fauna is all of the Animal life of any particular region or time

A number of solutions have been tried in order to reduce the rate of desertification and regain lost land; however, most measures treat symptoms of sand movement and do not address the root causes of land modification such as overgrazing and unsustainable farming. Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to Livestock Grazing for extended periods of time or without sufficient recovery periods Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Leguminous plants, which extracts nitrogen from the air and fixes it in the soil, can be planted to restore fertility. A legume is a Plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae or a Fruit of these specific plants Nitrogen (ˈnaɪtɹəʤɪn is a Chemical element that has the symbol N and Atomic number 7 and Atomic weight 14 Stones stacked around the base of trees collect morning dew and help retain soil moisture. Artificial grooves can be dug in the ground to retain rainfall and trap wind-blown seeds. In Iran, petroleum is being sprayed over semi-arid cropland. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit This coats seedlings to prevent moisture loss and stop them being blown away. Windbreaks made from trees and bushes to reduce soil erosion and evapotranspiration were widely encouraged by development agencies from the middle of the 1980s in the Sahel area of Africa. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Evapotranspiration (ET is a term used to describe the sum of Evaporation and Plant Transpiration from the earth's land surface to Atmosphere See also Sahel Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. The Sahel or Sahel Belt (from Arabic ساحل sāḥil

In developing countries, with many local people using trees for firewood and cooking the problem has become acute. In order to gain further supplies of fuel the local population add more pressure to the depleted forests; adding to the desertification process. Solar ovens and efficient wood burning cook stoves are being advocated as a means to relieving some of this pressure upon the environment. A solar oven or solar cooker is a device which uses Sunlight as its energy source

Trees are planted instead of sand fences to reduce sand accumulating in a UAE highway.

While desertification has received some publicity by the news media, most people are unaware of the extent of environmental degradation of productive lands and the expansion of deserts. In 1988 Ridley Nelson pointed out that desertification is a subtle and complex process of deterioration.

At the local level, individuals and governments can partially or temporarily forestall desertification. Sand fences are used throughout the Middle East and the US, in the same way snow fences are used in the north. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. A snow fence is a structure used to force drifting of Snow to occur in a predictable place rather than in a more natural method Placement of straw grids, each up to a square meter in area, will also decrease the surface wind velocity. Shrubs and trees planted within the grids are protected by the straw until they take root. However, some studies suggest that planting of trees depletes water supplies in the area. [2] In areas where some water is available for irrigation, shrubs planted on the lower one-third of a dune's windward side will stabilize the dune. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops This vegetation decreases the wind velocity near the base of the dune and prevents much of the sand from moving. Higher velocity winds at the top of the dune level it off and trees can be planted atop these flattened surfaces.

A row of tree fences along the highway. Plants with fine leaves can trap sand.

Oases and farmlands in windy regions can be protected by planting tree fences or grass belts. Sand that manages to pass through the grass belts can be caught in strips of trees planted as wind breaks 50 to 100 meters apart adjacent to the belts. Small plots of trees may also be scattered inside oases to stabilize the area. On a much larger scale, a "Green Wall of China", which will eventually stretch more than 5,700 kilometers in length, nearly as long as the Great Wall of China, is being planted in north-eastern China to protect "sandy lands" – deserts created by human activity. The Green Wall of China, also known as the Green Great Wall or Great Green Wall (绿色长城 will be a series of human-planted forest strips in the The Great Wall of China ( or ( is a series of stone and earthen Fortifications in China, built rebuilt and maintained between the 6th century BC and the 16th

Africa, with coordination from Senegal, has launched its own "green wall" project^[11]. Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Trees will be planted on a 15 km wide land strip from Senegal to Djibouti. Aside from countering desert progression, the project is also aimed at creating new economic activities, especially thanks to tree products such as gum arabic ^[12]

More efficient use of existing water resources and control of salinization are other effective tools for improving arid lands. Gum arabic, a Natural gum also called gum acacia, and chaar gund or char goond (in India is the hardened Sap taken from two species New ways are being sought to use surface-water resources such as rain water harvesting or irrigating with seasonal runoff from adjacent highlands. New ways are also being sought to find groundwater resources and to develop more effective ways of irrigating arid and semiarid lands. Research on the reclamation of deserts is also focusing on discovering proper crop rotation to protect the fragile soil, on understanding how sand-fixing plants can be adapted to local environments, and on how grazing lands and water resources can be developed effectively without being overused.

Seawater Greenhouse and seawater forest

An interesting recent development is the Seawater Greenhouse and Seawater Forest. The Seawater Greenhouse is an established technology with the potential to create surplus fresh water from Seawater, using a novel form of Greenhouse that also provides This proposal is to construct these devices on coastal deserts in order to create freshwater and grow food,

See also

• Oasification
• Aridification
• Deforestation
• Drought
• Ecological engineering
• Ecological engineering methods
• Extinction
• Famine
• Food security
• Global warming
• Green Revolution
• Human migration
• Overconsumption
• Overpopulation
• Steppe
• List of countries by fertility rate
• List of deserts
• List of environment topics
• List of famines
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• Water crisis
• World population
• 2005-06 Niger food crisis
• 2006 Horn of Africa food crisis
• Background of the Darfur conflict
• Hypothetical future disasters

External links and references

This article incorporates text from http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/desertification/, a public domain work of the United States Government. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U