Essay on Desertification ( Words) Article shared by. Desertification means a process of degradation of the environment that usually is a product of climate and human activity and involves the spread or extension of desert-like conditions in a hitherto fertile area. Most of the vegetation in arid and semi-arid regions is threatened with man-made desertification, a result Desertification Essay Of all the global environmental problems, desertification is, perhaps, the most threatening for poor rural people. The most accepted definition of desertification states that it is land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas (hereafter called “drylands”) resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human blogger.comted Reading Time: 10 mins Desertification | Essay. The term desertification is, as a rule, explained as the land degradation process that leads to the reduction or loss of biological or economic productivity of the territory. It usually takes place in arid, semi-arid and dry types of areas. Furthermore, it is frequently a result of a variety of factors which comprise different human activities and the process of climate
Essays About Desertification | WOW Essays
This Desertification Essay example is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic, please use our writing services. com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay desertification essay research paper you hand in. The term des e rt i f i cat io n was coined in by A, desertification essay. Aubreville, a French scientist working in West Africa. Aubreville introduced this umbrella term to describe several ecological processes in tropical Africa, in particular the progressive transformation of tropical forests in savanna and drier ecosystems, desertification essay.
In advancing this term, desertification essay, Aubreville was attempting to describe the way in which the Sahara Desert was expanding to engulf desert-marginal savanna grasslands, desertification essay. The term was further popularized in the s because of the prolonged Sahelian drought, desertification essay. Since then, desertification essay, desertification has aroused intense debate in the scholarly community about the extent, definition, causes, and how to control this phenomenon, which has led to multiple definitions. In desertification essay, Michael Glantz and Nicolai Orlovsky reported encountering more than one hundred definitions of desertification in related literature, desertification essay, signifying its complexity. However, what is certain is that desertification is nothing new; it has been with humanity since the beginning of civilization.
Degradation is defined as the reduction of resource potential by one or a combination of the processes acting on the land, while arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid climatic zones are collectively referred to as the susceptible dry lands. On the other hand, true deserts hyperarid zones are not seen as desertification essay to desertification as they are already biologically unproductive. This conference defined desertification as: …the diminution or destruction of the biological potential of the land, which can lead ultimately to desert-like conditions. It is an aspect of the widespread deterioration of ecosystems, and has diminished or destroyed the biological potential, desertification essay, i.
plant and animal production, for multiple use purposes at a time when increased productivity is needed to support growing populations in quest of development. Important factors in contemporary society-the struggle for development and the effort to increase food production, desertification essay, and to adapt and apply modern technologies, set against a background of population growth and demographic changes-interlock in a desertification essay of cause and effect. The UN Nairobi conference attempted to explain the causes desertification.
The blame for the deterioration of productive ecosystems was squarely placed on the quest for ever-greater productivity, which has in turn intensified exploitation of fragile environments. Overexploitation was seen to give rise to degradation of vegetation, soil, and water, the three elements that serve as the natural foundation for human existence. The fear was that in exceptionally fragile ecosystems, such as those on the desert margins, desertification essay, the loss of biological productivity desertification essay the degradation of plant, animal, soil, and water resources could easily become irreversible, and permanently reduce their capacity to support human life.
It was argued that desertification is desertification essay self-accelerating process, desertification essay, feeding on itself, and as it advances, rehabilitation costs rise exponentially. The Nairobi conference urged immediate action to combat desertification, and a world map of land degradation by desertification and many case studies from all over the world were presented. These case studies clearly illustrated that desertification was not only happening in Africa, desertification essay, but was a worldwide problem. Since then, several other maps of land degradation have been produced, facilitated by improving technologies such as Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing.
These technologies have yielded important data on desertification, desertification essay. It is now estimated that more than About 3. The remaining It is the latter part that has been degraded by human activities and adverse climatic conditions such as desertification essay drought. According to. Glantz and Orlovsky identify two major factors of desertification: climate and human activities. Climate refers to climate variability, climate change, or drought. Climate variability is defined as the naturally occurring fluctuations in precipitation, temperature, wind speed and direction, evaporation, and so on for a given period of time.
Climate change refers to the view that desertification is primarily a result of natural shifts in climate regimes, desertification essay. Prolonged periods of drought are also a major cause of desertification. These three climatic factors often result in the degradation of an ecosystem, thereby affecting the livelihoods of people who depend on it. The impacts of different types of human activities on the environment form the second set of factors. Activities such as cultivation, livestock herding, and wood gathering have all been cited as major causes of desertification, particularly in fragile environments.
Cultivation of marginal climatic environments, poor soils, or the use of inappropriate cultivation techniques such as reduced fallow time, improper tillage, drainage, desertification essay, and water use have all been implicated in the expansion of desertification. Overgrazing is another problem that leads to land degradation, especially in poorly managed rangelands. In many developing countries, people depend on firewood or charcoal for cooking and heating purposes. In some parts of Africa, the production of charcoal to satisfy urban energy needs has resulted in wholesale environmental degradation.
The controversy on defining desertification and attempting to extricate the major factors that lead to this condition has arisen because of disagreements on how it should be considered. Some researchers think of desertification as a desertification essay of change, while others view it as the end result of a process of change. For example, World Bank economists have been at the desertification essay in desertification essay the alarm about deforestation and environmental degradation in Africa. World Bank economists Kevin M. Cleaver and Gotz A, desertification essay.
Schreiber have vehemently argued that Africa is desertification essay in a downward spiral of population growth leading to environmental degradation and, therefore, poor agricultural performance. They see land degradation as the end result of a process of change with population explosion desertification essay the cause. On the other hand, other scholars offer evidence of the opposite, and see land degradation or desertification as a process of change, not the end result. For example, Thomas J. In recent years, a number of books and articles have been written to counter the dominant view that Africa is facing rapid desertification.
These include the work of James Fairhead and Melissa Leach, the work of Melissa Leach and Robin Mearns, and the work of Michael Mortimore. The ways to combat desertification therefore also depend on the understanding desertification essay this process, desertification essay. Those who believe it is an end result of several causes such as population growth and overgrazing often suggest population control, reforestation programs, and placing restrictions on pastoralists to make them sedentary and to reduce the numbers of their livestock. On the other hand, those who believe that this is a process in which one species, such as trees, may replace another species, such as grass, do not consider desertification a major problem.
However, trees replacing grass may in itself be considered degradation by those who depend on livestock for their livelihood. In the Ivorian savanna, the increase in woody species may actually be undermining the health of grasslands, which may, ironically, lead to policy prescriptions that exacerbate grassland degradation, resulting in desertification essay loss of an important resource that pastoralists depend on. Essay Examples. Environment Essay Examples. ORDER HIGH QUALITY CUSTOM PAPER Always on-time. FREE INQUIRY. ORDER NOW. Special offer! Promo code: cd1a Related Posts.
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Essay on Desertification ( Words) Article shared by. Desertification means a process of degradation of the environment that usually is a product of climate and human activity and involves the spread or extension of desert-like conditions in a hitherto fertile area. Most of the vegetation in arid and semi-arid regions is threatened with man-made desertification, a result Desertification is the expansion of desert lands into previously non-desert areas. The process occurs due to both natural and human causes.. Deserts occur anywhere where there is less than 10 inches of rainfall each year. Desertification takes place in dryland areas where the earth is especially fragile, where rainfall is nil and the climate harsh Desertification Essay. This Desertification Essay example is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic, please use our writing services. blogger.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or Estimated Reading Time: 9 mins
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