Which type of erosion leads to desertification?
Which type of erosion leads to desertification?
Answer:
A major consideration in desertification is soil erosion. It transforms inhabitable areas into deserts. The situation is exacerbated by deforestation and disruptive land utilization. It also results in the depletion of biodiversity, soil erosion, and ecosystem change.
Overexploited drylands suffer from erosion, decreased resilience to climatic variations, productivity loss, and salinization of soil.
The United Nations has defined desertification as a “diminution or destruction of the biological potential of the land which can lead ultimately to desert-like conditions.”
Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.
Causes of Desertification
The biological composition of the soil is mainly determined by the vegetation. If the vegetation cover is more, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially. Loss of vegetation is the immediate cause of desertification.
There are a number of reasons behind the loss of vegetation which are listed below.
- Drought – A drought is a period of time when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. A drought is caused by drier than normal conditions that can eventually lead to water supply problems.
- Deforestation – It is permanent removal of trees and clearing the land for construction or manufacturing, using the timber for fuel, agriculture or grazing.
- Climatic change – This may increase desertification through alteration of temporal and spatial patterns in winds, rainfall, temperature, solar radiation.
- Overgrazing – Overgrazing happens when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for long periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods.
- Tillage for agriculture – Tillage means land that is tilled, preparing the land for planting and cultivation.
Effects of Desertification
- A major threat to biodiversity is caused by desertification.
- Mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas takes place due to desertification.
- Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there.
- These migrations into the cities often cause large numbers of unemployed people, who end up living in slums.
Answer:
A major consideration in desertification is soil erosion. It transforms inhabitable areas into deserts. The situation is exacerbated by deforestation and disruptive land utilization. It also results in the depletion of biodiversity, soil erosion, and ecosystem change.
Overexploited drylands suffer from erosion, decreased resilience to climatic variations, productivity loss, and salinization of soil.
The United Nations has defined desertification as a “diminution or destruction of the biological potential of the land which can lead ultimately to desert-like conditions.”
Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.
Causes of Desertification
The biological composition of the soil is mainly determined by the vegetation. If the vegetation cover is more, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially. Loss of vegetation is the immediate cause of desertification.
There are a number of reasons behind the loss of vegetation which are listed below.
- Drought – A drought is a period of time when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. A drought is caused by drier than normal conditions that can eventually lead to water supply problems.
- Deforestation – It is permanent removal of trees and clearing the land for construction or manufacturing, using the timber for fuel, agriculture or grazing.
- Climatic change – This may increase desertification through alteration of temporal and spatial patterns in winds, rainfall, temperature, solar radiation.
- Overgrazing – Overgrazing happens when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for long periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods.
- Tillage for agriculture – Tillage means land that is tilled, preparing the land for planting and cultivation.
Effects of Desertification
- A major threat to biodiversity is caused by desertification.
- Mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas takes place due to desertification.
- Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there.
- These migrations into the cities often cause large numbers of unemployed people, who end up living in slums.
