Eco+Team...+Desertification

= ﻿ Desertification = Desertifacition is the degradation of drylands.The top causes for desertification are:


 * Over grazing. When animals are not controlled in their grazing habits and they eat everything until every thing is gone.
 * Cultivation on marginal lands. This is when peasant farmers are pushed on to hilly, rocky, not very good soil, and are forced to grow the plants in that area.
 * Destruction of vegitations. This is like habitat destruction, it is when people cut down trees, bushes, and other plants, and leave everything destroyed.
 * Poor grazing management after accidental burning. this is after slashing and burning, the ground catches on fire and after its put out, the farm animals just keep eating what they have left nad then its gone, nothing but dirt.
 * Incorrect irrogation practices is when not enough sunlight energy, co2, or water gets into the plant.
 * Losing economical or biological productivity. This is when
 * Semi-Arid/drought. A drought is when there is a shortage of water.

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How can we stop desertification? We can build a giant dune wall. 6,000 km long. Made out of sand. Stuck together with bacteria. Join together and help stop desertification. Millions can die from desertification. If you don't exactly know how desertification looks, here you go: Desertification (in my words) looks like the ground is cracked, and it looks horribly plowed. Desertification can happen anywhere that is dry, or that has been accidently burned. Desertification can kill humans and animals. If desertification happens, it is well known that humans have caused it by either burning, or by over grazing. (Desertification most likely can happen on farm land, because of cows over grazing). In 2025 only 25% of africa's population will be able to survive from farming if desertification continues. =====

//__ Desertification's Impact to Wildlife __// Due to the increase of desertification in Africa, wildlife is being negatively affected. Many African countries have serious droughts which are causing humans to deplete their natural resources quickly. Because of this, desertification is increasing in large proportions. The effects of desertification in Africa also affect the wildlife there. For example, humans are having a harder time meeting their agricultural needs. In turn, humans are relying more on animals for food and products. Elephants are killed for their ivory tusks, rhinos are killed for their horns, and gorillas are murdered for their hands and feet. Since Africa's natural resources are depleted, humans are forcing this wildlife closer to extinction. Hunting of wildlife for food is a concern for 30 endangered species in Africa, some of which are antelopes, monkeys, elephants, chimpanzees, and gorillas. The population in Africa today exceeds 800 million people and is expected to reach 1.6 billion in 25 years. If humans do not do something in the near future about desertification then all of Africa may be a barren wasteland. --- [|ga17ganoets]



//__Human Impact__// Human impact on the earth is terrible, and does not help desertification, it makes it worse. Desertification is caused mostly by humans over plowing, and bad irrogation. Animals don't really cause desertification, but some times they might graze too much than they're supposed to, but humans have to burn the ground (accidently) before desertification starts taking place. This all comes back around on people that own farmland and people that have dead grass. These people need to water grass, and they need to take care of farmland. The future of our world and desertification is our responsibility. So, remember one thing, and one thing only. Desertification is bad, but with our help, we can turn the enviroment around into a safe, and green nation. So, desertification can kill animals. But, if your wondering: How exactly does desertification affect habitats? I have your answer. Climate change leads to less rain, less rain leads to desertification, desertification leads to habitat destruction. The weird thing is that climate change is because of pollution from cars, and/or boats. This also is making "Food Output" which means animals aren't getting enough food because of climate change, because of humans. So as you can see, there is a whole cycle that revolves around the earth in which humans pollute. Polluting leads to habitat destruction and "Food Output" and all of this is killing, and affecting animals' habitats, and affecting animal habitats lead to animals going extinct, and/or endangered. Imagine what would happen if this goes on all the time. That means that about every week, a species would go extinct. Isn't this terrible??? Land clearance and deforestation are other ways that desertification happens. Deforestation comes from humans burning down trees, and when the trees burn down, the soil is destroyed, and when the soil gets destroyed, desertification takes place. There are alot of ways that desertification can happen. Another way would be: Semi-arid. Semi-arid is when there is little rainfall in an area. Again, this happens because of humans polluting! One thing that you didn't know: Productive capacity is major, because it is an output of any product in the economy. ---[|ga17barnhartbc]

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Drought Desertification is when a drought is happening, and the soil is very dry. After that, the ground cracks, and it turns into a bad case of Desertification. Usually, this is how desertification normally starts. If there is a drought, and the ground is cracked, get away from that area, because there is usually no water around that area of land, nor animals.

What Desertification Does........... Soil can be ruined easily in areas where seasonal rainfall is unreliable. Cutting down forests and trees, over-cultivation of the soil and over-grazing can all contribute to desertification. In poorer countries, farmers often know what needs to be done, but they and their families live so near to starvation that they cannot even afford to buy what they need to keep their families healthy let alone attempt to solve their problems. Desertification needs to be stopped before it's stops everything else! --- [|ga17rolandbn]

Even though stopping desertification will be costly, and might not entirely solve the problem, the people who suffer __must__ be given a chance!

Orginizations such as the International Developement Research Center, (IDRC), are fighting to help stop desertification. One of the ways that they are helping is fighting bush in Ourkoye. Also, they are managing shaed pastueres in Beli. Plus, they participate in forest management in Toumousseni. They also are fighting deforestation, which is connected to desertification. It is connected because when people slash-and-burn,(cutting down trees and burning them) it basically burns and cracks the grass and ground, which is starting desertification.

Facts on desertification:
 * Desertification occurs through land degration in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.
 * Desertification is occuring in 70 per cent of all drylands, or one-quarter of the total land area of the earth.
 * Each year, the planet loses 24 billion tons of topsoil, over the last two decades.
 * Desertification costs the world more than $40 billion a year in lost productivity.
 * Desertification causes widespread poverty, and is responsible for much of the migration in the developing world.
 * Nearly two-thirds of Latin America's drylands are moderately to severely desertified.
 * Asia contains the largest amount of land affected by desertification of any continent- just under 1,400 million hectares.
 * Desertification is reponsible for the degradation of 73 per cent of the world's rangeland.

--- [|ga17rolandbn]

D on't just sit around work! E veryone should help! S top to lend a hand! E ﻿xtend your knowledge! R ﻿espect your enviroment! T ﻿hink about others! I ﻿nteract with nature! F ﻿ind some freinds to help! I ﻿dentify a charity! C ﻿are! A ﻿bsolute victory! T ﻿urning the tides! I ﻿t works! O ﻿f course it works! N ﻿o Turning down!!!

We __must__ stop desertification before it is to late...

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