New research reveals that 77% of Earth's land has become drier over the last three decades due to global warming, while excessively salty soils are rapidly increasing. This trend, coupled with the expansion of drylands, poses a severe threat to agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and ecosystem health, exacerbating food and water insecurity for billions.
A dry rice field affected by drought is seen at Hudianxiang village in Xinyang, in central China's Henan province on June 18, 2024New research has found global warming has made 77% of the Earth’s land drier over the past three decades while rapidly increasing the proportion of excessively salty soils.
Drylands, or arid areas where water is hard to come by, now make up more than 40% of the planet , a likely permanent consequence of climate change,by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD. Another new analysis, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, found that roughlyThese interwoven trends threaten agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and ecosystem health while exacerbating food and water insecurity.
“We can look to current geopolitical and ecological events that are playing out currently to understand what we can expect in the future,” Waterhouse said. “Think of what is occurring in Sudan right now, where climate change is exacerbating resource scarcity, which is interacting in governance and geopolitics in violent outcomes for civilians.”Aridity is not to be confused with drought.
As it stands, 10 countries, including China, Russia, and the United States, account for 70% of the planet’s salt-affected soils. This costs the global agriculture sector at least $27 billion every year.
Climate Change Desertification Drought Salinity Food Security
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