Under Your Feet

51

Over-farming

Too many crops take nutrients

and water out of the soil. This

means new plants are not able

to survive in the soil.

Desertified land

Few things grow in sand. It also

holds less carbon than fertile

soil. If carbon is released into the

air as a gas, it traps heat and

can speed up global warming.

Tackling the problem

People are looking at ways of using

desertified land. In some areas, plants

can be grown in holes called zai pits.

These collect water and can be filled

with nutrient-rich animal poo or soil.

Global warming

A hotter planet could cause

desertification in lots of

ways. For example, some

crops don’t grow as well in

hotter weather. Less rainfall

also leads to dry soil that

blows away.

H

a

l

f

o

f

o

u

r

r

a

i

n

fo

res

t

s

h

a

v

e

b

e

e

n

c

h

o

p

p

e

d

d

o

w

n in t

h

e

l

a

s

t

c

e

n

t

u

r

y

.

Rain doesn’t

fall during a

drought, which

affects plants.

Desertified soil is too

loose for plants to anchor

their roots in properly.

Zai pits

O

v

e

r

1

0

0

c

o

u

n

t

r

i

e

s

a

r

e

a

t

r

i

s

k

o

f

d

e

s

e

r

t

i

f

i

c

a

t

ion

.

A

r

e

a

s

a

r

o

u

n

d

t

o

d

a

y

’

s

d

e

s

e

r

t

s

a

r

e

m

o

s

t

a

t

r

i

s

k

o

f

d

e

s

e

r

t

i

f

i

c

a

t

i

o

n

.

050-051_Desertification.indd 51 31/10/2019 14:05