Desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi arid and dry sub-humid areas into desert, resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. Modern desertification often arises from the demands of increased populations that settle on the land in order to grow crops and graze animals.

Historical and current desertification

Desertification became well known in the 1930s, when parts of the Great Plains in the United States turned into the "Dust Bowl" as a result of drought and poor practices in farming, although the term itself was not used until almost 1950. During the dust bowl period, millions of people were forced to abandon their farms and livelihoods. Greatly improved methods of agriculture and land and water management in the Great Plains have prevented that disaster from recurring, but desertification presently affects millions of people in almost every continent.

Related Topics:
Great Plains - Dust Bowl

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Desertification is widespread in many areas of China. The populations of rural areas have increased since 1949 for political reasons as more people have settled there. While there has been an increase in livestock, the land available for grazing has decreased. Also the importing of European cattle such as Friesian and Simmental, which have higher food intakes, has made things worse.

Related Topics:
China - 1949 - European - Cattle - Friesian

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Overgrazing has made the Rio Puerco Basin of central New Mexico one of the most eroded river basins of the American West and has increased the high sediment content of the river.

Related Topics:
Rio Puerco Basin - New Mexico - Sediment

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