Aridification
Aridification is the process of a region becoming increasingly arid, or dry. It refers to long term change, rather than seasonal variation. It is often measured as the reduction of average soil moisture content. It can be caused by reduced precipitation, increased evaporation, lowering of water tables, and changes in ground cover acting individually or in combination. Its major consequences include reduced agricultural production, soil degradation, ecosystem changes and decreased water catchment runoff. Some researchers have found that the Colorado River basin and other parts of western North America are currently undergoing aridification. A December 2024 report from the UNCCD concluded that more than three-quarters of the Earth's land "has become permanently dryer in recent decades", that "drier climates now affecting vast regions across the globe will not return to how they were", and that a quarter of the global population lives in expanding drylands.
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Aridification is the process of a region becoming increasingly arid, or dry. It refers to long term change,[1] rather than seasonal variation.
It is often measured as the reduction of average soil moisture content. It can be caused by reduced precipitation, increased evaporation, lowering of water tables, and changes in ground cover acting individually or in combination. Its major consequences include reduced agricultural production, soil degradation, ecosystem changes and decreased water catchment runoff.[2]
Some researchers have found that the Colorado River basin and other parts of western North America are currently undergoing aridification.[3][4]
A December 2024 report from the UNCCD concluded that more than three-quarters of the Earth's land "has become permanently dryer in recent decades", that "drier climates now affecting vast regions across the globe will not return to how they were", and that a quarter of the global population lives in expanding drylands.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Heidari, Hadi; Arabi, Mazdak; Warziniack, Travis; Kao, Shih-Chieh (2020). "Assessing Shifts in Regional Hydroclimatic Conditions of U.S. River Basins in Response to Climate Change over the 21st Century". Earth's Future. 8 (10) e2020EF001657. Bibcode:2020EaFut...801657H. doi:10.1029/2020EF001657. ISSN 2328-4277.
- ^ "GLASOD Classification of Soil Degradation" (PDF). United Nations ESCAP. February 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ Erickson, Jim (May 19, 2020). "But it's a dry heat: Climate change and the aridification of North America". University of Michigan. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ Overpeck, Jonathan T.; Udall, Bradley (2020). "Climate change and the aridification of North America". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (22): 11856–11858. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11711856O. doi:10.1073/pnas.2006323117. PMC 7275756. PMID 32430321. S2CID 218758593.
- ^ "The Global Threat of Drying Lands: Regional and global aridity trends and future projections" (PDF). United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). December 9, 2024. p. 7 (Forward). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 10, 2024.
