Over 77% of Earth’s Land Became Drier in Last 30 Years: UN Report

 The United Nations has reported over 77 percent of Earth’s land has become drier in the past three decades. This situation poses serious threats to agriculture, water resources, and wildlife, and urgent action is required to address these challenges.

Key Findings from the UN Report

The UN Science-Policy Interface conducted a comprehensive study, which indicates that increasing dryness is linked to desertification and climate change. The report marks the need for improved water management practices. Sustainable land use is essential for mitigating these effects.

Economic Impacts on Africa and Asia

Africa has been severely impacted by dryness. Between 1990 and 2015, the continent lost approximately 12 percent of its GDP. Projections suggest a further loss of 16 percent in the next five years. Asia is also at risk, with an expected GDP loss of about 7 percent due to similar conditions.

Crop Vulnerability

Certain crops are particularly vulnerable to drying trends. Maize in Kenya faces risks. If current trends persist, maize production could decrease by half by 2050. This decline would have dire consequences for food security in the region.

About Drylands

Drylands are defined as areas where most rainfall evaporates. These regions struggle to support plant life due to limited water availability. The report predicts that by mid-century, two-thirds of the world’s land will have reduced water storage.

Experts are advocating for immediate action, which emphasise the importance of combating desertification. Addressing climate change is crucial for safeguarding natural resources. Effective strategies must be implemented to protect vulnerable ecosystems and communities.

 GKToday Facts for Exams:

1. UN Science-Policy Interface – This UN body bridges science and policy. It aims to inform decision-makers about sustainable practices. Its findings guide global responses to environmental challenges.
2. Drylands – Drylands are regions where rainfall evaporates rapidly. They face extreme water scarcity. These areas struggle to sustain vegetation, impacting agriculture and biodiversity .
3. African GDP Loss – Africa lost 12 percent of its GDP from 1990 to 2015 due to dryness. Future projections indicate a 16 percent loss within five years. This economic impact is alarming.

Global warming, sea level rise, ageing flood defence systems: Why European countries have been flooded

 

While rain this time of year isn’t unusual, it’s the intensity of the downpour that has set off alarm bells among experts. They suggest a combination of factors has led to the deluge in the countries. Here is a look.

Heavy rains have hit France, England, Netherlands and Germany for more than two weeks, causing rivers to burst their banks in many areas, flooding homes and prompting evacuations.

While rain this time of year in these regions isn’t unusual, it’s the intensity of the downpour that has set off alarm bells among experts. They suggest a combination of factors, including global warming, rising sea levels, and ageing flood defence systems have led to the deluge in the countries.

Here is a look at the situation.

What is happening?

In France, the northern region has been the worst affected as 189 municipalities of the Pas de Calais department witnessed flooding. Till January 4, at least 1,299 homes had been damaged and a total of 371 people had been evacuated by the local authorities.

Widespread deluge has impacted central England — in Nottinghamshire County, officials declared a “major incident” due to flooding along the Trent River last week. In London, a landslide and flood waters disrupted train travel and around 50 people had to be evacuated because of rising water in the eastern part of the city. The flooding has come just days after the country’s large areas were battered by Storm Henk.

Meanwhile, in Germany, officials declared emergencies in several regions as high-running rivers flooded villages and farmland. In the Netherlands, flood plains were inundated and residents in some towns around the Ijsselmeer inland sea near Amsterdam used sandbags to protect their homes, according to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Why is it happening?

There are three factors at play here: rising global temperature, sea level rise, and outdated flood defence systems. Let’s look at each of them.

First, global warming. Scientists have known that as the planet gets warmer, there will be more frequent extreme rainfall. With higher temperatures, there is more evaporation from land, oceans and water bodies, which means a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture — experts suggest for every 1 degree Celsius rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This makes storms more dangerous as it leads to an increase in precipitation intensity, duration and/or frequency, which ultimately can cause severe flooding.

El Nino — a weather pattern that refers to an abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean — also partly contributed to increasing the temperatures of oceans, causing more evaporation and ultimately, more rain.

The second factor is sea level rise due to which rivers frequently breach their banks to flood the adjacent areas. Take the example of northern France, where rising sea levels likely led to the recent deluge — between 1966 and 2018, sea levels at Pas de Calais rose by 4.4 cm, according to a report by Euro News.

Lastly, ageing flood defence systems have exacerbated the situation. The Euro News report noted that the outdated water management systems of France failed to tackle the large volumes of water that had entered the affected regions. Authorities had to get water pumps from the Netherlands to combat flooding.

Moreover, people, both in France and England, have built infrastructure like roads and buildings on floodplains, restricting the natural routes the water would have taken to get drained into the floodplain soils. As a result, the water ends up flooding certain areas.

What happens next?

The situation is bound to get worse. Studies have shown that as the planet gets warmer, storms would get more intense, causing heavier rainfall. The frequency of extreme weather events like floods is also expected to go up.

Steve Turner, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, in an interview on Friday told Science Media Centre: “Future projections suggest the UK overall may experience wetter winters as well as summers that are hotter and drier than at present but with periods of more intense rainfall. Continued human-induced climate warming in future is likely to result in further increases in peak river flows, which will cause more severe flooding and impacts on people, property and public services.”

Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve flood defences, early warning systems and resilience measures to tackle the fallout of heavy rain.

Written by Alind Chauhan

Source: The Indian Express, 9/01/24