Wednesday, February 10, 2010

38% of World's Land in Danger of Turning into Desert

Desertification-38.jpg

If you're not familiar with desertification, it might be time to get acquainted. The term describes the process where land in drier areas becomes subject to 'extreme deterioration' as a result of human activities. It can be caused by any combination of the following: overgrazing, extracting too much water from aquifers, rerouting of water from its natural sources to population centers, and yes, warming climate. And a new report in the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment has some pretty terrifying news: over a 3rd of the world's surface is in danger of desertification.

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