Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas due to various factors: including climatic variations and human activities.
A major impact of desertification is reduced biodiversity and diminished productive capacity, for example, by transition from land dominated by shrub lands to non-native grasslands. For example, in the semi-arid regions of southern California, many coastal sage scrub and chaparral ecosystems have been replaced by non-native, invasive grasses due to the shortening of fire return intervals. This can create a monoculture of annual grass that cannot support the wide range of animals once found in the original ecosystem. In Madagascar's central highland plateau, 10% of the entire country has desertified due to slash and burn agriculture by indigenous peoples.
Overgrazing and to a lesser extent drought in the 1930s transformed parts of the Great Plains in the United States into the "Dust Bowl". During that time, a considerable fraction of the plains population abandoned their homes to escape the unproductive lands. Improved agricultural and water management have prevented a disaster of the earlier magnitude from recurring, but desertification presently affects tens of millions of people with primary occurrence in the lesser developed countries.
Desertification can cause the following:
Starvation from lack of biodiversity
May also cause:
Societal breakdowns, food shortages, water shortages
During desertification you will be faced with the rule of 3's basic survival skills
Protect yourself
Plant vegetation cover and find ways to protect it. Building wind blocks can help with wind erosion. Vegetation will help hold the moisture and may reverse the process.
Prevent over grazing and overuse of the land
