What is desertification?

Hint: The deserts are considered the least fertile lands. Also, deserts are one of the least diverse regions of the ecosystem. Certain human practices or natural phenomena lead to the further decline of the fertility of dryland environments.

Complete answer: Desertification is a process leading to a devastating decline in the biological productivity of dryland environments. This decrease in fertility leads to the extinction of all the flora and fauna of that ecosystem. These declines in vegetation and wildlife make these lands appear to be like deserts that are considered the least fertile land areas.

-The various factors responsible for the process of deforestation to occur are climate change, overgrazing, excessive deforestation, unsustainable irrigation practices, or a combination of these factors.
-Unsustainable land management practices in dryland environments are a major cause of desertification. The vulnerable lands under desertification are arid and semiarid ecosystems that have sparse or variable rainfall. Extended droughts in these regions lead to an extensive decrease in biological diversity and productivity.
-Drylands are used for various purposes of agricultural and fuelwood collection practices. Thus is 1977, UNCOD or United Nations Conference on Desertification was held in Nairobi, Kenya, to explore various causes and contributing factors and regional solutions for desertification.
-Desertification leads to many serious consequences like a decrease in potable water stocks from a decrease in surface and groundwater, increased risks of flooding due to increased sedimentation in rivers, elevated levels of air and water pollution from dust, reduced woody biomass causing scarcity of building materials and fuelwood.
-All these consequences lead to poor conditions for populations living in affected areas. Thus this is a serious phenomenon that needs to be studied and solved.

Note: The concept of desertification is different from the physical expansion of existing deserts. Rather it is the sum of various processes that threaten all dryland ecosystems that include deserts as well as grasslands and scrublands. Desertification is closely related to global warming. Thus measures to control this is a reduction in greenhouse gases, planting more and more trees, performing sustainable farming practices, etc.