Three-quarters of Earth’s landmass has become drier in recent decades – UN

Although catastrophic water-related disasters such as floods and storms have become more frequent in some parts of the world, more than three-quarters of the Earth’s land area has become steadily drier over the past three decades.

This is stated in a new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Unlike droughts – temporary periods of low rainfall – aridity is a permanent, continuous transformation, says UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.

The droughts are ending. However, when the climate in a certain area becomes drier, the opportunity to return to the preconditions is lost. The drier climate now affecting vast areas of the world is not going back, and the change is redefining life on Earth, he adds.

According to the report:

• Over the course of three decades, by 2020, approximately 77.6% of the Earth’s land area was drier than in the previous 30-year period;
• During the same period, the area of ​​drylands increased by approximately 4.3 million square meters. km – this is almost a third larger than India, the seventh largest country in the world, and now covers 40.6% of all land on Earth (excluding Antarctica);
• in recent decades, about 7.6% of the world’s land – an area larger than Canada – has crossed the aridity threshold (i.e. from non-arid land to dry land, or from less arid to drier classes of dryland);
• most of these areas have transitioned from wet to dry landscapes, with dire consequences for agriculture, ecosystems and the people living there.

The study warns that if the world fails to curb greenhouse gas emissions, an additional 3% of the world’s wetlands will become drylands by the end of this century, the UN says.

Under the high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, expansion of arid areas is projected along the Black Sea coast, throughout the Mediterranean region, the US Midwest, central Mexico, northern Venezuela, northeastern Brazil, southeastern Argentina, and much of the south. Australia.

The UNCCD report cites anthropogenic climate change as the main reason for these changes:

• greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, transportation, industry, and land-use changes are warming the planet;
• other human activities affect precipitation, evaporation and plant life, creating conditions that increase aridity.

Areas particularly affected by the drying trend include almost all of Europe (95.9% of its territory), part of the western United States, Brazil, part of Asia (in particular eastern) and central Africa, the UNCCD notes.

At the same time, less than a quarter of the planet’s land area (22.4%) experienced wetter conditions, with slightly higher humidity in the central United States, the Atlantic coast of Angola and parts of Southeast Asia.

However, the overall trend is clear: drylands are expanding, causing ecosystems and societies to suffer the life-threatening effects of drought, UNCCD said.

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.