Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

Author: Anton Imeson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-12-30

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0470714492

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Desertification offers a comprehensive overview of the subject and clearly emphasizes the link between local and global desertification processes and how past and current policy has affected arid environments and their populations. This text adequately applies the research undertaken during the last 15 years on the topic. Desertification has become increasingly politicized and there is a need to present and explain the facts from a global perspective. This book tackles the issues surrounding desertification in a number of ways from differing scales (local to global), processes (physical to human), the relationship of desertification to current global development and management responses at different scales. Desertification has been mainstreamed and integrated into other areas of concern and has consequently been ignored as a cross cutting issue. The book redresses this balance. Making use of much original data and information that has been undertaken by many scientists andpractitioners during the last decade in different parts of the world, Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability is organised according to the principles of adaptive management and hierarchy theory and clearly explains desertification within a framework of evolving and interacting physical and socio-economic systems. In addition to research data the book also draws from the National Action Plans of different countries, the IPCC Fourth Assessment on Climate Change and the Millennium assessments. Clearly structured throughout, the content of the book is organised at different scales; local, regional and global. It also specifically explains processes linking top-down and bottom- up interactions and has a strong human component. The historical, cultural and physical context is also stressed. Clearly organised into the following distinct sections: a) Concepts and processes b) Data c) Impacts d) Responses e) Case studies. This text is essential for anyone studying desertification as part of an earth and environmental science degree.


Governing Global Desertification

Governing Global Desertification

Author: Pierre Marc Johnson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-12-05

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1351932470

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Desertification affects 70 per cent of the world's arable lands in more than 100 countries. Inextricably linked to poverty, it is estimated that the livelihood of 250 million people are directly affected while another billion living in rural drylands are threatened by this phenomenon. This volume examines the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) signed in 1994. It studies the links between land degradation and poverty, the role of civil society and good governance in implementing the UNCCD and the various approaches to fighting desertification. Furthermore, it assesses the National Action Programmes, development planning and new avenues for strengthening implementation. Synthesizing the main strengths and weaknesses of the UNCCD as a tool for environmental and developmental governance, this informative volume highlights the main challenges facing the UNCCD in the future.


Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

Author: Anton Imeson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-01-25

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1119979781

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Desertification offers a comprehensive overview of the subject and clearly emphasizes the link between local and global desertification processes and how past and current policy has affected arid environments and their populations. This text adequately applies the research undertaken during the last 15 years on the topic. Desertification has become increasingly politicized and there is a need to present and explain the facts from a global perspective. This book tackles the issues surrounding desertification in a number of ways from differing scales (local to global), processes (physical to human), the relationship of desertification to current global development and management responses at different scales. Desertification has been mainstreamed and integrated into other areas of concern and has consequently been ignored as a cross cutting issue. The book redresses this balance. Making use of much original data and information that has been undertaken by many scientists andpractitioners during the last decade in different parts of the world, Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability is organised according to the principles of adaptive management and hierarchy theory and clearly explains desertification within a framework of evolving and interacting physical and socio-economic systems. In addition to research data the book also draws from the National Action Plans of different countries, the IPCC Fourth Assessment on Climate Change and the Millennium assessments. Clearly structured throughout, the content of the book is organised at different scales; local, regional and global. It also specifically explains processes linking top-down and bottom- up interactions and has a strong human component. The historical, cultural and physical context is also stressed. Clearly organised into the following distinct sections: a) Concepts and processes b) Data c) Impacts d) Responses e) Case studies. This text is essential for anyone studying desertification as part of an earth and environmental science degree.


Land Degradation and Desertification

Land Degradation and Desertification

Author: Abiud Kaswamila

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13: 9535127063

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Land degradation which is caused by multiple forces-extreme weather conditions and anthropogenic activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility-negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the provision of other ecosystem goods and services. Land degradation can also lead to climate change and affect human health. The problem is more pronounced in least developing countries due to overdependence of natural resources for survival. Sustainable ways to reduce land degradation and desertification demand research and advocacy of sustainable land management practices. This book is organized into two sections. The first section covers three major aspects, viz., an understanding of patterns of land degradation and desertification for developing mitigation strategies, land-atmosphere interaction from response of land cover to climate change effects of Karst rocky desertification, and the effect of unprecedented human activity into land degradation and desertification processes using natural and human-induced landscape research. The last section dwells on the relationship between soil degradation and crop production and an examination on how land degradation impacts the quality of soil in communal rangelands. Environmentalists, land-use planners, ecologists, pedologists, researchers, and graduate students will find this book to be an essential resource.


Desertification in Developed Countries

Desertification in Developed Countries

Author: David A. Mouat

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 9400916353

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Desertification has re-emerged as a topic of global significance as a consequence of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. When first addressed over a generation ago, attention was drawn to the compelling, spectacular images of sand dunes engulfing farmlands and parched cattle dying around wells. Research tended to focus on these events as unusual phenomena that involved the unfortunate collision of climate and `irrational' land use. Since then, the work of many researchers has shown us that desertification is a multifaceted problem that involves climatic, biogeochemical, political, and socio-economic processes that operate more or less continuously but at rates that vary in time and space. No attempts to arrest or reverse desertification that ignore this complexity are likely to succeed. In a single volume, `Desertification in Developed Countries' describes the multiple dimensions of desertification as well as the novel approaches that have been used to address it within the economies of developed countries. This is done from the perspectives and experiences of the numerous authors who have contributed to this book.


Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Resilience

Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Resilience

Author: Chizoba Chinweze

Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag

Published: 2023-05-25

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 3736967837

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A growing body of research and scientific as well as local evidence has shown that climate change impacts is on the rise with its attendant risks/hazards for the land system, even as it relates to DLDD, these being exacerbated by anthropogenic factors; thus, pushing the earth system to a tipping point therefore requiring that society braze up its coping capacities to avert the impending danger. This book highlights the urgent need to move from desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) risk management to resilience. The aim is to provide new insight on the issues of DLDD and stir policy guide on vulnerability reduction and building adaptive capacities so as to achieve sustainable development and identify pathways to a land degradation neutral world. It is worthy to note that globally, about one fifth of earth’s land area – more than 2 billion hectares – is degraded; and this jeopardizes the livelihoods of more than 3.5 billion people, i.e., about 40% of the world population. The global population is still growing and is projected to reach 8.3 billion people by 2030. Such growth will put unprecedented pressure on the productivity of the land system from day to day.


Global Environmental Changes, Desertification and Sustainability

Global Environmental Changes, Desertification and Sustainability

Author: Flávio Rodrigues do Nascimento

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-07-19

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 3031329473

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The book considers desertification as a cause-effect of environmental degradation that causes global environmental changes and the current climate crisis. Desertification affects sustainability and is one of the most severe socio-environmental problems on a global, regional, and local scale and in magnitude. It is a complex and interdisciplinary phenomenon with socioeconomic, historical, and ecological aspects. The book dealt with themes such as “Anthropocene and limits of balance on Earth; Global Environmental Changes, Climate Crisis; Desertification: concepts, myths, and reality; Causes and impacts in the world,” considering international technical-scientific assumptions guided by historical, practical, and conceptual issues. Currently, desertification (land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid regions, resulting from various factors, such as climate variations and human activities) occurs in different continents and associates with land use and environmental and climate changes. This is a question of interest to the political management of the territory. The compendium goes beyond the conceptual approach and brings case studies with depth and a holistic view. Watersheds, for example, were treated as synthesis cells of environmental assessments and territorial units to develop public policies to manage natural resources and mitigate soil salinization and geochemical contamination. Besides the correlation between desertification and climate as a natural design, its harmful consequences for the planet are correlated with the most affected areas associated with poverty, environmental conflicts, and land tenure. The book considers several studies and a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data, pointing out about 3.6 billion hectares affected and more than 2.6 billion people affected worldwide. Desertification areas demand priority attention and greater scientific clarification not contaminated by other interests, surpassing the boundaries of sectorial and empirical explanation and not dissociated from natural x human processes. The book proposes to be holistic with an assessment of the totality!