Pre-Class Preparation Pre-Class Preparation
Objectives
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 | Desertification and climate change. (From UNEP.) |
Class Discussion
Summary Prepared by: Mark Kochen, Brian Vote, Trevor Dickerson, and Kyle TackettDesertification is defined by the 1992 Earth Summit as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities." Desertification is occurring rapidly in the world´s drylands. Drought is only a part of the desertification process, with the majority of the problem due to human pressures on the land. Desertification is not limited to poor countries. Many developed countries in the world face the same problem. A desert is created when areas of strained land goes through a period of drought, through time these areas spread and merge together to form a desert. Solutions for desertification have initially failed. Today´s approach is the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which has been signed by 110 governments. The Convention plans to change local and international levels of land use through programs. These programs will be sub regional and regional, and should be dealt with a democratic, bottom up approach. The convention programs will also focus on awareness, education, and training in developed and developing countries. The treaty has divided the world into four different regions, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Northern Mediterranean. The treaty requires a decentralized authority, participation from farmers, pastoralists and empowering women.
Somalia has been able to set up the Somali Environmental Protection and Anti-Desertification Organization (SEPADO). They were able to due this because of their decentralized government, SEPADO is a non-governmental organization (NGO). SEPADO web site
Dialog:
Some input from dialog seems to indicate that not all deserts are created due to the influence of man and global circulation´s, but instead are created in whole by global circulation. Lake Chad at the edge of the Sahara desert has now shrunk to 10% of its original size compared to earlier in the century. However, this seems to be a part of a natural cycle which occurs every 200 years. Another comment had to deal with the natural deserts of the 30 degree north and south latitudes these do not to be caused by human influence but instead global circulation´s. Two web sites were identified. One describing conditions in the southwest U.S. and one associated with pictures of deserts and ways to protect sandy land.
Post-Class Activities
 | Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought |
| Crosson, Pierre, 1995: Soil Erosion Estimates and Costs. Science 269, 461-463. |
| Daily, Gretchen C., 1995: Restoring Value to the World's Degraded Lands. Science 269, 350-354. |
| El-Baz, F., 1990: Do People Make Deserts? New Scientist October 13, 41-44. |
| Glantz, Michael H., 1994: Drought Follows the Plow. Cambridge University Press 197 pp. |
| Naeth, M. Anne, and David S. Chanasyk, 1996: Runoff and Sediment Yield Under Grazing in Foothills Fescue Grasslands of Alberta. Water Resources Bulletin 32, 89-95. |
| Pimentel, et al., 1995: Environmental and Economic Costs of Soil Erosion and Conservation Benefits. Science 267, 1111-1237. |
 | China's Dust Bowl is Growing at an Alarming Rate, by Lester Brown |
| Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought |
| Image of Lake Chad |
| Glantz, Micheal H., 1994: Drought Follows the Plow. Cambridge University Press, 197 pages. |
| Nicholson, S. E., et al., 1998: Desertification, Drought, and Surface Vegetation: An Example from the West African Sahel. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 79, 815-829. |