Free Desertification Essay Sample

A major problem that tends to go unnoticed is desertification. Desertification spreads rapidly throughout dry and arid regions. By doing so, desertification takes away fertile, vegetation filled land and turns it into loose, unstructured dunes of sand. However, in order to adjust to desertification, one must first understand the root causes. Desertification predominantly starts with soil degradation, which is fundamentally caused by the loss of vegetation. The main reason for the loss of vegetation comes from the lack of water, overgrazing, and erosion of the soil. Plants not only prevent further erosion by holding the soil in place, but they also add moisture to the air and deep into the soil. Without shrubs, the soil will become prone to further erosion and the area will become uninhabited as no wildlife can survive without a source of water. The extent of the damage done by desertification affects more than just surrounding areas, it affects the rest of the climate for generations to come. Since soil contains much of the earth’s carbon, excess moving of soil, or forms of erosion and desertification, can release carbon into the atmosphere. By releasing excessive carbon, the effects of greenhouse gasses on the atmosphere are multiplied significantly. Not to mention, desertification takes away much of the agriculture land and biodiversity of plants and animals living in the surrounding areas.  Desertification is a major concern as it limits habitats, decreases biodiversity, and shrinks land suitable for agriculture.  

Now that the root causes are known, solutions may be formed to help prevent and restore desertified areas. The first step in any solution is to create a thorough plan of action. The best way to create a plan for each specific case is to use a comprehensive modeling system. However, most cases of desertification are treated with the most commonly recommended solutions for general land degradation. These include reintroducing plant life, getting involvement in local governments, and preventing overgrazing and overuse of the land. By far, the best solution for any case of desertification is prevention. One of the simplest ways to help prevent any area at risk of desertification and soil erosion is to maintain and to reintroduce vegetation into the area. By preserving and restoring vegetation, the soil will undergo both physical and chemical changes that will allow it to become fertile, usable soil. Prevention is the best solution for desertification as it may take longer than the average human lifespan to fully restore a desertified area in order for it to become suitable for wildlife. This makes prevention by maintaining a quota of vegetation one of the main keys to putting an end to desertification. 

Something that I read while researching that surprised me was the amount of carbon that lies in the soil. I had never actually put any thought into it before, but every living thing contains carbon, one of the building blocks of life. When something dies or wilts away, it decomposes to eventually become apart of the soil. That carbon will stay in the soil and continue to compound, combining centuries of the carbon from former living beings into one place. The carbon will then stay in the soil until it is distributed by an outside force, such as a plant or erosion. Erosion of the soil, and therefore the release of the carbon, contributes to the effects of the greenhouse gasses on the atmosphere. The release of carbon is one of the major side effects of desertification and soil degradation that impacts the entire atmosphere negatively. 

The most valuable information that I have learned pertaining to the articles and research process is how humans and individuals can help prevent desertification. While there is no way to reverse the effects of desertification immediately, there are several actions that we can take to reverse the damage done to the surrounding area. One way to help restore desertified land is to plant vegetation, such as succulents, that thrives in arid and dry conditions. We can also help by limiting our own impact on the land we use. Limiting land use can be done through preventing overgrazing of our livestock and restoring areas that we have deserted, which can be seen by deconstructing buildings that are no longer in use so that wildlife may roam there. These small actions can help to significantly shorten the restoration time of soil degraded lands.