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[[File:Desertification map.png|thumb|upright=1.75|World map from 1998 showing global desertification vulnerability]]
'''Desertification''' is a type of gradual [[land degradation]] of [[Soil fertility|fertile]] land into arid [[desert]] due to a combination of natural processes and human activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desertification - an overview {{!}} ScienceDirect Topics |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/desertification |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=www.sciencedirect.com |archive-date=2022-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403121044/https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/desertification |url-status=live }}</ref> This spread of arid areas is caused by a variety of factors, such as [[overexploitation]] of [[soil]] as a result of human activity and the [[effects of climate change]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sustainable development of drylands and combating desertification |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/v0265e/v0265e01.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804222104/http://www.fao.org/docrep/v0265e/v0265e01.htm |archive-date=4 August 2017 |access-date=21 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Zeng L17401">{{Cite journal |last1=Zeng |first1=Ning |last2=Yoon |first2=Jinho |date=1 September 2009 |title=Expansion of the world's deserts due to vegetation-albedo feedback under global warming |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=36 |issue=17 |page=L17401 |bibcode=2009GeoRL..3617401Z |doi=10.1029/2009GL039699 |issn=1944-8007 |s2cid=1708267 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Geographic areas most affected are located in Africa ([[Sahel]] region), Asia ([[Gobi Desert]] and [[Mongolia]]) and parts of [[South America]]. [[Drylands]] occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people.<ref name=":5">[https://unemg.org/2018/images/emgdocs/publications/Global_Drylands_Full_Report.pdf Global Drylands Report] unemg.org 2018</ref> Effects of desertification include [[Sand storm|sand and dust storms]], [[Food security|food insecurity]], and [[poverty]].
Humans can fight desertification in various ways. For instance, [[Soil regeneration|improving soil quality]], [[Reclaiming desert|greening deserts]], managing [[grazing]] better, and planting trees ([[reforestation]] and [[afforestation]]) can all help reverse desertification.
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As recently as 2005, considerable controversy existed over the proper
definition of the term "desertification." Helmut Geist (2005) identified more than 100 formal definitions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geist |first=Helmut
|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315240855/causes-progression-desertification-helmut-geist |title=The Causes and Progression of Desertification |date=2017-10-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-24085-5 |location=London |doi=10.4324/9781315240855}}</ref> The most widely accepted of these was that of the [[Princeton University]] Dictionary which defined it as "the process of fertile land ''transforming into desert'' typically as a result of [[deforestation]], [[drought]] or improper/inappropriate agriculture".{{cn|date=October 2023}} This definition clearly demonstrated the interconnectedness of desertification and human activities, in particular land use and land management practices. It also highlighted the economic, social and environmental implications of desertification.
<br />However, this original understanding that desertification involved the physical expansion of deserts has been rejected as the concept has further evolved since then.<ref name="EB2">{{cite encyclopedia | title = Desertification
| first1 = John P.
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There exists also controversy around the sub-grouping of types of desertification, including, for example, the validity and usefulness of such terms as "man-made desert" and "non-pattern desert".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Geist |first1=Helmut J. |last2=Lambin |first2=Eric F. |date=2004 |title=Dynamic Causal Patterns of Desertification |journal=BioScience |language=en |volume=54 |issue=9 |pages=817 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0817:DCPOD]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0006-3568|doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Geographic areas affected==▼
[[Drylands]] occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |title=Governing global desertification: linking environmental degradation, poverty and participation |date=2006 |publisher=Ashgate [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-7546-4359-3 |editor-last=Johnson |editor-first=Pierre-Marc |series=Global environmental governance series |location=Aldershot |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first2=Pierre Marc}}</ref><ref name=":5">[https://unemg.org/2018/images/emgdocs/publications/Global_Drylands_Full_Report.pdf Global Drylands Report] unemg.org 2018</ref> It has been estimated that some 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, the total area affected by desertification being between 6 and 12 million square kilometers, that about 1–6% of the inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and that a billion people are under threat from further desertification.<ref name="holtz">{{cite web|url=https://www.unccd.int/un-decade-deserts-and-fight-against-desertification-impact-and-role-drylands|title=UNCCD: Impact and role of drylands|date=10 October 2017|website=UNCCD|access-date=7 November 2019|archive-date=7 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107121026/https://www.unccd.int/un-decade-deserts-and-fight-against-desertification-impact-and-role-drylands|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=World Bank|title=Gender in agriculture sourcebook|publisher=World Bank Publications|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8213-7587-7|page=454|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XxBrq6hTs_UC&pg=PA454|access-date=2016-05-16|archive-date=2023-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730160546/https://books.google.com/books?id=XxBrq6hTs_UC&pg=PA454|url-status=live}}</ref>▼
===Sahel===▼
{{Further|Sahel#Desertification and soil loss}}▼
The impact of climate change and human activities on desertification are exemplified in the [[Sahel]] region of Africa. The region is characterized by a dry hot climate, high temperatures and low rainfall (100–600 mm per year).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nicholson |first=Sharon E. |date=2013-02-17 |title=The West African Sahel: A Review of Recent Studies on the Rainfall Regime and Its Interannual Variability |journal=International Scholarly Research Notices |language=en |volume=2013 |pages=e453521 |doi=10.1155/2013/453521|doi-access=free }}</ref> So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Desertification/desertification2.php|title=Defining Desertification : Feature Articles|last=Riebeek|first=Holli|date=2007-01-03|website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov|access-date=2016-11-30|archive-date=2016-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201211259/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Desertification/desertification2.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The Sahel has lost approximately 650,000 km<sup>2</sup> of its productive agricultural land over the past 50 years;<ref>[https://www.thegeographeronline.net/uploads/2/6/6/2/26629356/a116_sahel.pdf Environmental issues in the Sahel] Geo Factsheet</ref> the propagation of desertification in this area is considerable.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nicholson |first1=S. E. |last2=Tucker |first2=C. J. |last3=Ba |first3=M. B. |title=Desertification, Drought, and Surface Vegetation: An Example from the West African Sahel |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |date=1 May 1998 |volume=79 |issue=5 |pages=815–830 |doi=10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<0815:DDASVA>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=1998BAMS...79..815N |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Land Resource Stresses and Desertification in Africa|url=https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/use/?cid=nrcs142p2_054025|access-date=24 November 2020|website=United States Department of Agriculture|archive-date=1 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401055308/https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/use/?cid=nrcs142p2_054025|url-status=dead}}</ref>▼
[[File:Village Telly in Mali.jpg|thumb|[[Sahel]] region of Mali]]▼
The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variations over the last few hundred thousand years,<ref name="Lakes">{{Cite journal | title=Ancient Lakes of the Sahara | journal=American Scientist | volume=94 | year=2006 | pages= 58–65 |author1=Kevin White |author2=David J. Mattingly | issue=1 | doi=10.1511/2006.57.983}}</ref> oscillating between wet (grassland) and dry (desert) every 20,000 years<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.mit.edu/2019/study-regulating-north-african-climate-0102 |title=A "pacemaker" for North African climate |author=Jennifer Chu |date=January 2, 2019 |publisher=MIT News |access-date=January 20, 2020 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115093627/https://news.mit.edu/2019/study-regulating-north-african-climate-0102 |url-status=live }}</ref> (a phenomenon believed to be caused by long-term changes in the [[North African climate cycle]] that alters the path of the [[North African Monsoon]], caused by an approximately 40,000-year cycle in which the [[axial tilt]] of the earth changes between 22° and 24.5°).<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|last1=Houérou|first1=Henry N.|title=Bioclimatology and Biogeography of Africa|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-85192-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Rvs7NkfeLEC&q=Sahara+rainfall+virtually+zero&pg=PA16|language=en|date=2008-12-10|access-date=2020-12-11|archive-date=2023-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730160547/https://books.google.com/books?id=_Rvs7NkfeLEC&q=Sahara+rainfall+virtually+zero&pg=PA16|url-status=live}}</ref> Some statistics have shown that, since 1900, the Sahara has expanded by 250 km to the south over a stretch of land from west to east 6,000 km long.<ref>{{cite web|author=Christian Bouquet|title=Le Sahara entre ses deux rives. Éléments de délimitation par la géohistoire d'un espace de contraintes|website=Géoconfluences|date=December 2017|url=http://geoconfluences.ens-lyon.fr/informations-scientifiques/dossiers-regionaux/afrique-dynamiques-regionales/articles-scientifiques/sahara-entre-deux-rives|quote=Mais il aurait progressé de 250 km vers le sud depuis 1900 (Mainguet, 2003), et dépasserait donc 9 millions de km² soit 30 % de la superficie totale du continent africain.|access-date=2018-01-25|archive-date=2022-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210001607/http://geoconfluences.ens-lyon.fr/informations-scientifiques/dossiers-regionaux/afrique-dynamiques-regionales/articles-scientifiques/sahara-entre-deux-rives|url-status=live}}</ref> ▼
[[Lake Chad]], located in the Sahel region, has undergone desiccation due to water withdrawal for irrigation and decrease in rainfall.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Okpara |first1=Uche T. |last2=Stringer |first2=Lindsay C. |last3=Dougill |first3=Andrew J. |title=Lake drying and livelihood dynamics in Lake Chad: Unravelling the mechanisms, contexts and responses |journal=Ambio |date=November 2016 |volume=45 |issue=7 |pages=781–795 |doi=10.1007/s13280-016-0805-6 |pmid=27371137 |pmc=5055484 |bibcode=2016Ambio..45..781O }}</ref> The lake has shrunk by over 90% since 1987, displacing millions of inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jiang |first=Ingrid |date=2022-08-12 |title=A Remarkable Size Shrinking in Lake Chad |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e63a90f8552d4e5f98f4c56a56c06f9d |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en-ca}}</ref> Recent efforts have managed to make some progress toward its restoration, but it is still considered to be at risk of disappearing entirely.<ref name="Remote sensing appraisal of Lake Ch">{{cite journal |last1=Onamuti |first1=Olapeju Y. |last2=Okogbue |first2=Emmanuel C. |last3=Orimoloye |first3=Israel R. |date=8 November 2017 |title=Remote sensing appraisal of Lake Chad shrinkage connotes severe impacts on green economics and socio-economics of the catchment area |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=171120 |doi=10.1098/rsos.171120 |pmc=5717671 |pmid=29291097}}</ref>▼
To limit desertification the [[Great Green Wall (Africa)]] initiative was started in 2007 involving the planting of vegetation along a stretch of 7,775 kms, 15 kms wide, involving 22 countries to 2030.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Green Wall Initiative |url=https://www.unccd.int/our-work/ggwi |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=UNCCD |language=en}}</ref> The purpose of this mammoth planting initiative is to enhance retention of water in the ground following the seasonal rainfall, thus promoting land rehabilitation and future agriculture. Senegal has already contributed to the project by planting 50,000 acres of trees. It is said to have improved land quality and caused an increase in economic opportunity in the region.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-green-wall/ | title=The Great Green Wall | National Geographic Society | access-date=2022-12-22 | archive-date=2022-12-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222164123/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-green-wall/ | url-status=live }}</ref>▼
===Gobi Desert and Mongolia===▼
{{See also|Environmental issues in Mongolia#Desertification}}▼
Another major area that is being impacted by desertification is the [[Gobi Desert]] located in Northern China and Southern Mongolia. The Gobi Desert is the fastest expanding desert on Earth, as it transforms over {{convert|3600|km2|sqmi|abbr=off}} of grassland into wasteland annually.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rechtschaffen |first=Daniel |title=How China's Growing Deserts Are Choking The Country |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrechtschaffen/2017/09/18/how-chinas-growing-deserts-are-choking-the-country/ |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=2022-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216110308/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrechtschaffen/2017/09/18/how-chinas-growing-deserts-are-choking-the-country/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the Gobi Desert itself is still a distance away from [[Beijing]], reports from field studies state there are large sand dunes forming only 70 km (43.5 mi) outside the city.<ref>{{cite report|last=Welker|first=Lauren|url=http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/371c/project/2009/Welker_Desertification.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124101958/http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/371c/project/2009/Welker_Desertification.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-24 |url-status=live |title=The Desertification of the Gobi Desert and Its Effect on Beijing |date=2009 |type=Unpublished manuscript |publisher=University of Texas-Austin School of Geosciences}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-25 |title=Gobi Desert: A Complete Guide to East Asia's Largest Desert |url=https://www.youngpioneertours.com/gobi-desert-guide/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Young Pioneer Tours |language=en |archive-date=2023-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730160548/https://www.youngpioneertours.com/gobi-desert-guide/ |url-status=live }}</ref>▼
In [[Mongolia]], around 90% of grassland is considered [[vulnerability|vulnerable]] to desertification by the UN. An estimated 13% of desertification in Mongolia is caused by natural factors; the rest is due to human influence particularly overgrazing and increased erosion of soils in cultivated areas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Desertification and How Does It Impact Mongolia? |url=https://breathemongolia.org/en/news-article/desertification-impact-mongolia/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Breathe Mongolia – English |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401180828/https://breathemongolia.org/en/news-article/desertification-impact-mongolia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Jie |last2=Dai |first2=Han |last3=Gu |first3=Zhaolin |date=2021-12-01 |title=Sandstorms and desertification in Mongolia, an example of future climate events: a review |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01285-w |journal=Environmental Chemistry Letters |language=en |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=4063–4073 |doi=10.1007/s10311-021-01285-w |issn=1610-3661 |pmc=8302971 |pmid=34335128 |bibcode=2021EnvCL..19.4063H |access-date=2022-04-03 |archive-date=2023-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730160551/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-021-01285-w |url-status=live }}</ref> During the period 1940 to 2015, the mean air temperature increased by 2.24 °C.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Jie |last2=Dai |first2=Han |last3=Gu |first3=Zhaolin |date=2021-12-01 |title=Sandstorms and desertification in Mongolia, an example of future climate events: a review |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01285-w |journal=Environmental Chemistry Letters |language=en |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=4063–4073 |doi=10.1007/s10311-021-01285-w |issn=1610-3661 |pmc=8302971 |pmid=34335128|bibcode=2021EnvCL..19.4063H }}</ref> The warmest ten-year period was during the latest decade to 2021. Precipitation has decreased by 7% over this period resulting in increased arid conditions throughout Mongolia. The Gobi desert continues to expand northward, with over 70% of Mongolia's land degraded through overgrazing, deforestation, and climate change.<ref>[https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/31145/making-grasslands-sustainable-mongolia.pdf Making Grasslands Sustainable in Mongolia] adb.org</ref> In addition, the Mongolia government has listed [[Wildfire|forest fires]], [[blight]]s, unsustainable [[forestry]] and [[mining]] activities as leading causes of desertification in the country.<ref>[https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/8918/-Report%20on%20the%20state%20of%20the%20environment%20of%20Mongolia%20(2008-2010)-2011Report-State-of-environment-Mongolia.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y#:~:text=The%20Report%20of%20State%20of,damaged%20by%20mining%20activities%20are Report] unep.org</ref> The transition from [[sheep]] to [[goat]] farming in order to meet export demands for [[cashmere wool]] has caused degradation of grazing lands. Compared to sheep, goats do more damage to grazing lands by eating roots and flowers.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Dorj|first1=O.|title=Mongolia: Country Features, the Main Causes of Desertification and Remediation Efforts|date=2013|work=Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East|pages=217–229|editor-last=Heshmati|editor-first=G. Ali|place=Dordrecht|publisher=Springer Netherlands|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-6652-5_11|isbn=978-94-007-6651-8|last2=Enkhbold|first2=M.|last3=Lkhamyanjin|first3=S.|last4=Mijiddorj|first4=Kh.|last5=Nosmoo|first5=A.|last6=Puntsagnamil|first6=M.|last7=Sainjargal|first7=U.|editor2-last=Squires|editor2-first=Victor R.}}</ref>▼
{{excerpt|Gobi Desert#Desertification}}▼
===South America===▼
[[South America]] is another area vulnerable by desertification, as 25% of the land is classified as drylands<ref>{{Cite web |title=Soil Degradation Threatens Nutrition in Latin America - World |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/world/soil-degradation-threatens-nutrition-latin-america |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=ReliefWeb |date=16 June 2016 |language=en |archive-date=2022-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403121753/https://reliefweb.int/report/world/soil-degradation-threatens-nutrition-latin-america |url-status=live }}</ref> and over 68% of the land area has undergone soil erosion as a result of deforestation and overgrazing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2018-06-15 |title=Why We Should Invest in Land Management in Latin America |url=https://www.nrdc.org/bio/carolina-herrera/why-we-should-invest-land-management-latin-america |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=www.nrdc.org |language=en}}</ref> 27 to 43% of the land areas in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru are at risk due to desertification. In Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay, greater than half the land area is degraded by desertification and cannot be used for agriculture. In Central America, drought has caused increased unemployment and decreased food security - also causing migration of people. Similar impacts have been seen in rural parts of Mexico where about 1,000 square kms of land have been lost yearly due to desertification.<ref name=":0" /> In [[Argentina]], desertification has the potential to disrupt the nation's food supply.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Torres |first1=Laura |last2=Abraham |first2=Elena M. |last3=Rubio |first3=Clara |last4=Barbero-Sierra |first4=Celia |last5=Ruiz-Pérez |first5=Manuel |title=Desertification Research in Argentina |journal=Land Degradation & Development |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=433–440 |doi=10.1002/ldr.2392 |date=7 July 2015|bibcode=2015LDeDe..26..433T |hdl=11336/48401 |s2cid=129476957 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>▼
==Causes==
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There is, however, increased global advocacy e.g. the UN [[Sustainable Development Goal 15|SDG 15]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Goal 15 targets |url=https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-15-life-on-land/targets.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904001634/https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-15-life-on-land/targets.html |archive-date=2017-09-04 |access-date=2020-09-24 |website=UNDP |language=en}}</ref> to combat desertification and restore affected lands.
▲==Geographic areas affected==
▲[[Drylands]] occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |title=Governing global desertification: linking environmental degradation, poverty and participation |date=2006 |publisher=Ashgate [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-7546-4359-3 |editor-last=Johnson |editor-first=Pierre-Marc |series=Global environmental governance series |location=Aldershot |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first2=Pierre Marc}}</ref><ref name=":5"
▲===Sahel===
▲{{Further|Sahel#Desertification and soil loss}}
▲The impact of climate change and human activities on desertification are exemplified in the [[Sahel]] region of Africa. The region is characterized by a dry hot climate, high temperatures and low rainfall (100–600 mm per year).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nicholson |first=Sharon E. |date=2013-02-17 |title=The West African Sahel: A Review of Recent Studies on the Rainfall Regime and Its Interannual Variability |journal=International Scholarly Research Notices |language=en |volume=2013 |pages=e453521 |doi=10.1155/2013/453521 |doi-access=free
▲[[File:Village Telly in Mali.jpg|thumb|[[Sahel]] region of Mali]]
▲The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variations over the last few hundred thousand years,<ref name="Lakes">{{Cite journal |author1=Kevin White |author2=David J. Mattingly |year=2006 |title=Ancient Lakes of the Sahara |
▲[[Lake Chad]], located in the Sahel region, has undergone desiccation due to water withdrawal for irrigation and decrease in rainfall.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Okpara |first1=Uche T. |last2=Stringer |first2=Lindsay C. |last3=Dougill |first3=Andrew J. |date=November 2016 |title=Lake drying and livelihood dynamics in Lake Chad: Unravelling the mechanisms, contexts and responses |journal=Ambio
▲To limit desertification the [[Great Green Wall (Africa)]] initiative was started in 2007 involving the planting of vegetation along a stretch of 7,775 kms, 15 kms wide, involving 22 countries to 2030.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Green Wall Initiative |url=https://www.unccd.int/our-work/ggwi |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=UNCCD |language=en}}</ref> The purpose of this mammoth planting initiative is to enhance retention of water in the ground following the seasonal rainfall, thus promoting land rehabilitation and future agriculture. Senegal has already contributed to the project by planting 50,000 acres of trees. It is said to have improved land quality and caused an increase in economic opportunity in the region.<ref>{{cite web |
▲===Gobi Desert and Mongolia===
▲{{See also|Environmental issues in Mongolia#Desertification}}
▲Another major area that is being impacted by desertification is the [[Gobi Desert]] located in Northern China and Southern Mongolia. The Gobi Desert is the fastest expanding desert on Earth, as it transforms over {{convert|3600|km2|sqmi|abbr=off}} of grassland into wasteland annually.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rechtschaffen |first=Daniel |title=How China's Growing Deserts Are Choking The Country |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrechtschaffen/2017/09/18/how-chinas-growing-deserts-are-choking-the-country/ |
▲In [[Mongolia]], around 90% of grassland is considered [[vulnerability|vulnerable]] to desertification by the UN. An estimated 13% of desertification in Mongolia is caused by natural factors; the rest is due to human influence particularly overgrazing and increased erosion of soils in cultivated areas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Desertification and How Does It Impact Mongolia? |url=https://breathemongolia.org/en/news-article/desertification-impact-mongolia/ |
▲{{excerpt|Gobi Desert#Desertification}}
▲===South America===
▲[[South America]] is another area vulnerable by desertification, as 25% of the land is classified as drylands<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 June 2016 |title=Soil Degradation Threatens Nutrition in Latin America - World |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/world/soil-degradation-threatens-nutrition-latin-america |
==Reversing desertification{{anchor|Countermeasures_and_prevention}}==
| |||