Causes of Desertification

Causes of Desertification

1. Desertification

   • There is a lack of moisture and wood is used for people
     • Each family would need 30-40 trees to rebuild homes and fences
     • Trees are also removed for firewood
       • Cutting down trees makes the soil loose and it loses the cover from the leave so when it rains, it washes away the top coat and eventually renders the soil infertile

2. Overgrazing

   • Too many goats and other cattle graze for too long on one site, meaning all the vegetation is eaten and may not be able to grow back
   • New political boundaries, civil war and large companies buying land rights to regions mean that Nomadic groups are forced to stay in certain areas

3. War

   • In the Sudan's region, 250 000 people have been killed and 3 million have been made homeless since 2003.
   • In 2003, nomadic cattle herders and settled farmers began to fight over water supplies and land
     • Herders were deliberately prevented from reaching water sources by farmers, which led to overgrazing. Once all the vegetation was gone, their cattle died. In revenge, some herders chased farmers from their villages and cut down their crops and tree
       • The fighting between the two sides caused ruin of the land, therefore causing desertification

4. Overpopulation

   • While the population of the cities in the Western Desert continues to grow, there is a physical limit to how much water can be taken from the Colorado River.
     • If these places completely run out of water, this will make desertification a more likely issue
       • Climate change can also mean reduced rainfall in some areas which can also lead to water scarcity

5. Over cultivation

   • Over cropping land can exhaust its fertility
     • Part of this problem is due to small-scale subsistence agriculture
       • As health has improved over time, more children born into farming families are surviving infancy. Therefore more crops are planted and more aquifiers are drained dry.
     • Commercial farming makes this situation worse- European companies are using large areas of fragile land in China to grow water-hungry cash crops such as Jatropha

6. Soil Erosion

   • Overgrazing and over cultivation both result in soil erosion
     • If vegetation has been eaten by cattle or killed by drought, the exposed top soil becomes baked hard by sunlight. When the rain finally comes, it washes over the soil rather than soaking into the ground. As it flows, the top soil is carried away. Once the soil has eroded, it becomes impossible for the vegetation to grow back

7. Climate

   • Climate data for the Sahel suggests that desertification may have a physical cause- a long term reduction in rainfall has taken place
     • Global warming, caused by humans, will create even greater rainfall deficiences in the Sahel and other desert regions
       • The reduce in rain will cause the land to dry and therefore result in desertification