The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United nation observance each June 17 and Its purpose is to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought, highlighting methods of preventing desertification and recovering from Drought . Each year’s global celebration has a unique, novel emphasis that had not been developed previously.
Desertification is having major impact in many places on our planet today, and is expected to affect humanity even more in the future as we experience an increase in human population, and as our planet faces scarcity of natural resources such as clean water.
The process happens due to a number of reasons, but much of the desertification that is occurring around the world today is caused by human activity on lands that are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and improper agricultural methods.
Some of the factors that causes desertification include
Climate change
As humans continue to remove vegetation from landscapes, there is less remaining vegetation to add moisture to the soil that will evaporate into the air and form clouds that lead to rainfall. With significantly reduced rainfall, drought occurs and leads to a hotter and drier climate, and later causes desertification in the surrounding landscape.
Famine, poverty and political instability
While desertification certainly leads to these problems, they can also be a cause of desertification. This is because people on the brink of famine, extreme poverty or political instability in their country need to solve the crisis at the moment and do not think about sustainable cultivation strategies.
Overpopulation
Our planet’s ecosystems sustain life only when balanced. They can cope with incremental challenges and adapt but beyond a certain tipping point they collapse
Unsustainable agriculture techniques
Improper irrigation methods used in arid areas, such as canal irrigation, lead to a buildup of salt in the soil and make it difficult for crops and other plants to grow, increasing desertification. Similarly harmful is cultivation of already deteriorated lands.
Desertification has also many effect which affect human,Animals and even the plants in the forestry
1-The soil becomes infertile
-Vegetation is damaged
3-soir erosion
4-Diseaster
5-polluted sources of drinking water
6- famine,poverty and starvation
7-Mass migration
8-clashes between nomad and herb men
African climate reporters therefore calls on every stake holders to help in raising more awareness about desertification day