A United Nations report released on Monday highlights the growing crisis of land degradation, with more than three-quarters of Earth’s land experiencing persistent drying, threatening the survival of plant and animal life. The findings were presented at the UN summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is focused on combating desertification – the process by which fertile land turns to desert due to human-induced climate change, water scarcity, and deforestation.
The report reveals that from 1970 to 2020, over 75% of the world’s land has faced drier conditions compared to the previous three decades. The summit, which began last week and will conclude on Friday, is addressing both short-term droughts and the more enduring issue of land degradation.
If global warming trends continue, nearly five billion people — including those in much of Europe, parts of the western U.S., Brazil, eastern Asia, and central Africa — will be impacted by this drying phenomenon by the end of the century, compared to a quarter of the global population today.
Sergio Vicente-Serrano, a lead author of the report, explained that the warming atmosphere, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, accelerates evaporation, leading to reduced water availability for humans, plants, and animals. This makes survival increasingly difficult, especially for agriculture, as drier land reduces crop yields and impacts food supplies for livestock, exacerbating food insecurity.
The report also notes that aridity is contributing to increased migration. Erratic rainfall, land degradation, and frequent water shortages hinder economic development, particularly in arid regions such as southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and southern Asia.
