One of the great impacts that human beings generate on soils around the world and ecosystems in general is the desertification. Desertification has been defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification as the process of soil degradation resulting from factors such as climatic variations with human activities.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, causes and consequences of desertification.
Desertification vs desertification
Two streams have always been generated to speak of almost the same impact on the ground. The loss of soil through its degradation or loss of fertility is mainly due to several ways. When we speak of a natural way due to the increase in desert places or changes in the climate of an area, it is due to a natural change. For this reason, it is attributed the name of desertification. Desertification can be defined as the natural process by which the soil either loses its properties or degrades due to natural phenomena.
Once we put the human being as a variable of the environmental impacts that can occur in a place in question, we already have to say that it is desertification. Desertification is then defined as soil degradation caused by human activities whether agricultural, industrial, urbanization, etc. Desertification is considered as one of the processes that implies a loss of fertile soil and the inability of the rest of the ecosystem to fulfill its regulatory function.
We must know that ecosystems fulfill a function of supplying goods and services to human beings and to other species. Therefore, if the soil, the sustenance of all life, does not maintain its properties, it cannot provide its function. The arid, semi-arid and its humid dry areas are those that have a greater degree of vulnerability to desertification. This means that at the slightest impact by the human being they can lose their fertility and all their properties.
Statistics
At the European level of statistics, it is known that Spain is the country with one of the highest percentages of risk of desertification. And is that around 75% of the territory is at risk of suffering from this process of soil degradation. It is already known that 6% of the territory has already been irreversibly degraded and is mainly found on the Mediterranean, Andalusian and Canary Islands slopes. These areas are the most degraded as they are more susceptible to being attacked by desertification.
Various estimates have been made of climate change and its consequences for Spain. These estimates are not positive at all and suggest that periods of drought are becoming more frequent and intense and this will aggravate desertification processes.
Causes of desertification
We have said that the human being is one of the two fundamental factors by which desertification happens. This process is complex and, in general terms, it is difficult to determine that there is only one single cause. It can be said that it is the result of the confluence of different factors that are caused by both the climate and the activity of the human being. Let's see what are some of the main causes why the desertification process takes place:
- An area with a semi-arid climate where there are seasonal droughts and have little constant rains.
- Nutrient-poor land and high rate of soil erosion.
- Forest fires
- Crisis in the primary sector that leads to a rural exodus who left the productive land. As we know, when a productive land is abandoned it ends up being degraded naturally.
- Irresponsible exploitation of water resources that reduces the capacity of the ecosystem to provide water. There is also the contamination of aquifers.
- Disorderly urban growth in coastal areas especially.
- Global warming and decrease in rainfall generated by climate change.
We can say that climate change is one of the factors that most affects all the organic content of the Spanish soil. And it is causing the decrease in the carbon contained in soils naturally and affecting all of them to their physical, chemical and biological properties. The soils that are most altered are those humid areas in the northern part of the peninsula that are losing their fertility.
Consequences
Desertification is one of the main problems that has to be faced worldwide. And it is that they have serious repercussions on a global level. Desertification creates problems for the eradication of poverty, the care and conservation of the environment, sustainability and economic stability, among others. Some of the main consequences of this phenomenon are the following:
- Loss of animal and plant species, productive fertile soils and different ecosystems. The general loss of biodiversity is another problem facing humanity in this century. Losing productive land not only affects people, but also the biodiversity related to them.
- Decrease in agricultural production and the beginning of food insecurity. Many countries can feed their populations and hunger is increasing throughout the world.
- Alteration of natural resources
- Intensification of the consequences of climate change given that they act in a chain.
- Impacts or sustainable development and people's quality of life.
Faced with all these problems and they try to find different solutions such as the following:
- Reforestation and regeneration of tree species and shrubs.
- An improvement in water management through the reuse of treated water, storage of rainwater, desalination and savings. All of these actions can go a long way toward conserving water and better surviving long periods of drought.
- Maintain the soil by using fences to slow down the reach of the dunes and create tree barriers to protect against wind erosion. Let's not say that the wind is a powerful enough agent.
- Enrichment and fertilization of the soil through the regeneration of plant covers. With crops, the soil can be regenerated in the long term.
- Allow the development of shoots of native tree species with selective pruning. With selective pruning, the growth and development of species can be accelerated naturally.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about desertification, its causes and consequences.