500 million people have suffered from desertification!

“In 2015, around 500 (380-620) million people lived in areas that underwent desertification between the 1980s and the 2000s. The most affected populations are in South and East Asia, around the Sahara and in a region including North Africa” Source IPCC .

The climate in Tunisia is currently deteriorating, due to the rise in temperature caused by global warming and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. A large part of the population is threatened by climate migration due to the desertification of certain areas of the country. Desertification is an imminent danger that Tunisia and the countries of North Africa are not spared.

What is desertification?

The first image that comes to mind when we say desertification is sand dunes as far as the eye can see.

However, there are several forms of desertification: water and wind erosion of soils, degradation of vegetation cover and salinization followed by soil drought and irreversible soil degradation.

What’s the situation in Tunisia today?

More than three-quarters of Tunisia is threatened by desertification. This threat is particularly acute in arid environments (southern and central Tunisia) and semi-arid environments (the Dorsale and part of the northern Tell). It affects 77.6% and 16.4% of these areas respectively (SNDD, 2014). The climate in Tunisia is deteriorating, due to the rise in temperature caused by global warming and the increase in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. A large part of the population is threatened by climate migration due to the desertification of certain areas of the country.

The causes of this situation?

75% of the country’s arable land is threatened by desertification. A long-standing phenomenon linked to deforestation and industrial agriculture.

In addition, since the pre-industrial period, air temperature at the surface of land has risen by almost twice the average global temperature.

This has had a negative impact on food security and terrestrial ecosystems, and has contributed to desertification and land degradation in many regions. In some arid zones, the increase in land surface temperature and evapotranspiration and the decrease in precipitation volume, in interaction with climate variability and human activities, have also contributed to desertification.

Source OSS

Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash

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