This article continues a series of posts focused on UIG’s Mission 2022: Climate Change. Help us build a comprehensive climate change collection by contributing content to UIG. Contact us at info@universalimagesgroup.com
Desertification
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 1994 defined desertification as “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities”. Desertification is one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time, and the combination of climate change and human activity is making it worse.
As global temperatures rise and human populations increase, more and more land is at risk for degradation. In addition to global warming, factors influencing desertification include urbanization, unsustainable freshwater use, mining, ranching, farming and deforestation. As already water-scarce areas become even dryer, the soil in these areas is less able to support crops, livestock, and wildlife.
Moynak Ship Cemetery, Moynaq, Uzbekistan. Photo: Petr Svarc/UIG 
A pool of water separated from the river by the intense sun and heat, Ai-Ais, Namibia. Photo: Edwin Remsberg/VWPics/UIG 
Katarpe Valley, Atacama Desert, North Chile, South America. Photo: Matthew Williams-Ellis/UIG 
Amazon rainforest clearance for agriculture, near Santarem – deforestation for the agribusiness – economic development creating ecological unbalance. Photo: Ricardo Beliel/Brazil Photos/UIG 
Colca Canyon farmland and terraces, Peru, South America. Photo: Matthew Williams-Ellis/UIG 
Amazon rainforest burning, former dense forest becomes desert, detail of burned trees. Photo: Ricardo Funari/Brazil Photos/UIG 
Dried out Campanillas River near Almogia, Malaga Province, Andalusia, Spain. Photo: Ken Welsh/UIG 
Dried out Campanillas River near Almogia, Malaga Province, Andalusia, Spain. Photo: Ken Welsh/UIG 
Sand Storm. Mali. Africa. Photo: Giovanni Mereghetti/UIG 
Dying Trees. Photo: Mark Stevenson/UIG 
The Argentinian Altiplano along the Routa 51 between Antonio de los Cobres and Olcapato. South America, Argentina. Photo: Martin Zwick/REDA&CO/UIG
According to the European Commission’s World Atlas of Desertification, more than 75% of the Earth’s land is already degraded, and more than 90% may become degraded by 2050. Although desertification affects poorer countries disproportionately, the crisis is global, with more than 100 countries affected.
Land degradation and desertification were addressed at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. The resulting Declaration on Forests and Land Use confirmed an international commitment to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030, while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.
The declaration can be read here: https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/
Sources
Desertification and the Role of Climate Change by Robert McSweeney; June 8, 2019; Carbon Brief
https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-desertification-and-the-role-of-climate-change
Desertification, Explained by Christina Nunez; May 31, 2019; National Geographic
United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021
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