Sandstorm in a teacup? Understanding desertification
Abstract
In 1987 UNEP stated that 27 million hectares of productive land were being lost to desertification each year, at which rate not one hectare of productive land would remain on earth in 200 years time. Despite being widely perceived as an environmental issue of major importance, desertification has been subject to considerable confusion, misinterpretation and lack of clarity regarding its characteristics and occurrence. This paper examines recent scientific developments that enhance understanding of desertification processes but raise doubts about some previous assessments of the problem. In particular, natural fluctuations in dryland vegetation communities caused by inherent environmental instability need to be distinguished from degradation of the soil system caused by human activities. Improved satellite-based monitoring of environmental changes in Africa, and a recent global assessment of human-induced land degradation by ISRIC/UNEP, suggest previous assessments ofdesertification may have over-estimated the worldwide extent of the phenomenon by a factor of three.
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Due to its dependence upon local experts, the GLASOD assessment is considered subjective and has been open to disparagement.
“Due to this dependence upon local experts, the GLASOD assessment is considered subjective and has been open to disparagement (e.g., Rey, Scoones, & Toulmin, 1998, chap. 1;Thomas, 1993).”
From Mapping the world's degraded lands (2015) · cites this paper as Thomas, 1993
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Mapping the world's degraded lands
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- Authors
- Thomas, D. S. G.
- Corresponding author
- Thomas, David S. G.
- ORCID
- Thomas, David S. G.
- Venue
- The Geographical Journal
- Publisher
- JSTOR
- Published
- 1993-11
- Volume
- 159
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 318
- ISSN
- 0016-7398 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2049790445
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 5.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geographical Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Aeolian processes and effects
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Science and Environmental Management
- Keywords
- desertification, land degradation, dryland vegetation, human-induced land degradation, satellite monitoring, Africa
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