It causes land degradation through huge loss of top fertile soil along with plant nutrients through runoff water. Sequential and unanticipated causeeffect situations 4. Sequential and unanticipated causeeffect situations. The process of reversing desertification is a difficult one, with the bulk of difficulty arising from the interactions between issues with. Drought and desertification destroys 12 million hectares a year an area the size of greece and impacts 1. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. It reduces the depth of soil where it takes place, depletes the ground water table, limits the moisture storage capacity and feeding zones of the crops, deteriorates the soil organic matter, destroys soil structure and impairs fertility due to nutrient losses. There are various ways of looking at land degradation and its impact on the environment around it. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management.
Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Causes, effects and control strategies sumit chakravarty 1, s. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss above. Thus, arthur and jeanette conacher defined land degradation as alterations to all aspects of the biophysical environment by human actions to the. As a means of seeking solutions to the problems, and. Natural causes of land degradation are earth quakes, tsuna mis, droughts, avalanche.
Integrated solutions and the delimitation of planning regions 6. Land degradation and desertification are shown to be exogenous issues that can amplify and aggravate. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. The causes of land degradation in this category will require immediate application or available. Deforestation is taking place at a faster rate due to increasing demands of timber, fuel and forest products which results into degradation of land resources.
Natural causes of land degradation are earth quakes, tsunamis, droughts, avalanche. Causes and consequences article pdf available in european researcher 8182. Overgrazing refers to excessive eating of grasses and other green plants by cattle. Year after year, huge acres of land lost due to soil erosion, contamination and pollution. Desertification has been defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities11. Smart solutions for land degradation adam koniuszewski. Other structural solutions to the enhancement of integration of development. Soil quality decline is one of the main causes of land degradation and is considered to be responsible for 84% of the ever diminishing acreage.
Soil degradation simply means the decline in soil quality which comes about due to aspects such as improper land use, agriculture, and pasture, urban or. The change in the characteristic and quality of soil which adversely affect its fertility is called as degradation. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. Pdf land degradation can be described as an environmental phenomenon affecting dry lands. Unesco eolss sample chapters water resources management vol.
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