Desertion: What is, causes and consequences

Let’s start with clarify What is and what is desertification. This is the natural phenomenon as a consequence of the soil degradationwhich favors, over thousands of years, the appearance of desert climatic, morphological and environmental conditions.

This ecological process contributes to the aridification of originally fertile territoriesat greater rates of soil erosion, to the deterioration of vegetation and a decrease in edaphic humidity, without being induced such changes due to human activity.

An example of desertification is The Sahara That, according to cave paintings, 10,000 years ago, it presented a more humid climate; in contrast to the desert conditions that characterize it today.

When we ask ourselves How land desertification occurswe must take into account that they can trigger multiple natural factors of climate, astronomical, geomorphological and dynamic type.

• On the one hand, The weather Play a decisive role. In this context, the irregular character of rainfall (droughts or torrential rains), strong wind gusts, frosts, aridity and thermality of the climate (which favor the processes of salinization and rapid elimination of the organic matter of the soil), are able to model the relief and of accelerate soil degradation.
• TO Astronomical levelthe intensification of climatic changes (for example, of stations) in certain areas, caused by Milankovitch cycles, also contributes to desertification processes.
• On the other hand, the geomorphological factorsrelated to orogeny and lithology, which conditions erosion and desertification resistance.
• Finally, dynamic factorssuch as erosion or other physical-chemical processes, associated with the biological activity of the planet, wear out and destroy the soil feeding the desertification of the territory. Here you can learn much more about the different types of erosion.

Although the Desertification process Conceptually it is different from desertification, as we will detail below, it could be said that similar consequences are derived from both phenomena. Among the Consequences of desertification The following stand out:

• The land becomes more vulnerable to erosion processes, favored by the loss and deterioration of the plant cover.
• Soils lose their physical-chemical and mineralogical properties, reducing their functionality and productive capacity.
• All this affects the development of agricultural and livestock activities and, therefore, to well -being, to work and the economy of those who are dedicated to it or live in areas affected by such phenomena. As a result, the hatching of environmental refugees takes place, who are people in a situation of abandoning their homes, due to the costs that result from the desertification and desertification of the territory.

The term desertificationcoined by André Aubréville in the middle of the last century, arose in order to characterize the processes of agricultural and edaphic degradation in the Sahel region (Africa). Later, the UNCED (1994) establishes that desertification is the land degradation in arid areas, semi -arid areas and dry subhummed areascaused by various factors, such as human activities and climate variations, being discarded from this process hyperáridas.

In this definition, the main difference that they keep desertification and desertification can be identified and that is that the first of the phenomena can take place naturally or anthropically, while The origin of desertification is only natural. What does this imply? That the origin of desertification lies in the synergy of climatic and anthropic processes. Therefore, being the human being the main degradation agent of the Earth, among the Causes of desertification They can stand out:

• Intensive agriculture, highlighting the strong influence of mechanization on the destruction and degradation of land. Bad agricultural practices such as abandonment of land, the use of chemical substances and monoculture.
• In arid regions, the pumping of groundwater for agriculture favors the Saltification (by evapotranspiration) of the aquifers and the soil, which causes a progressive and continuous erosion and degradation of the land. In the overexploitation of aquifers, it is important to highlight the “Qanats” that are underground channels, exploited for water drinking, which connect the entire Mediterranean, favoring desertification processes.
• Deforestation, mining and overparation.
• The bad and poor irrigation management. For example, the use of low quality water for irrigation; The construction and modification of channels and channels.
• Tourism is an indirect cause because it implies greater urbanization of the land and other infrastructure (such as roads), greater demographic pressure on ecosystem and the intensification of extractive activities to meet the needs of the population.
• Forest fires, increasingly recurring, increase soil degradation processes.

Given the importance of desertification processes, which affect our health and that of our ecosystems, the June 17 The World Day to Fight Desertification and Drought in order to raise awareness about the importance of fighting this anthropic problem.

We recommend you learn more reading this other article about the causes of desertification and its consequences.

Currently, given the temporary extension of desertification processes, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate whether the changes that take place in terrestrial ecosystems towards more desert conditions are of a natural or anthropic nature. That is why, normally, there is talk of territories affected by desertification processes.

In this sense, Latin America and Sub -Saharan Africa They stand out as one of the areas most harmed by land degradation.

The Mediterranean It is also an example of soil degradation, especially highlighting the progress taken by this phenomenon in the cities of Alicante, Murcia and Almería. In these areas the garden area is significantly degraded and largely destroyed, as a consequence of indiscriminate and poorly planned urbanization. In fact, beyond the Mediterranean region, Spain presents arid climatic, semi -arid and dry subhumatic conditions, in two thirds of its territory, which makes them susceptible to desertification and desertification.

If you want to read more articles similar to Desertion: What is, causes and consequenceswe recommend that you enter our category of other environment.