Why is desertification a problem in China?
While desertification has both natural causes, such as shifts in climate, and human-driven causes, such as the clearing of vegetation, overgrazing, and the depletion of water resources, challenges created by humans are the most prevalent in China, with change threatening to exacerbate these problems.
How is China being affected by desertification?
Yet 400 million Chinese remain affected by desertification: Erosion—particularly due to wind—can cause violent sand storms, forcing people from their homes and threatening the economies of major Asian cities including Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo. Human health effects include respiratory and eye infections.
What is desertification in China?
Desertification is the gradual transformation of arable and habitable land into desert, usually caused by climate change and/or the improper use of land. Each year, desertification and drought account for US$42 billion loss in food productivity worldwide. In China, nearly 20% of land area is desert.
Why is desertification an issue?
Desertification is a global issue, with serious implications worldwide for biodiversity, eco-safety, poverty eradication, socio-economic stability and sustainable development. Drylands are already fragile. As they become degraded, the impact on people, livestock and environment can be devastating.
What is China doing to stop deforestation?
Combating of Deforestation in China China has banned logging in natural forests, earmarked $10 billion for reforestation projects and plans to spend $1 billion a year over 30 year to expand protected areas. To reduce consumption of wood China has imposed a five percent tax on wooden flooring and even chopsticks.
How much of China is desertified?
27.4 percent
Currently, 27.4 percent of China is desertified land, affecting about 400 million people. “The main problem [China faces] is an oversized population living in the drylands that surpasses the ecological carrying and restoring capacity of this area,” Wang says.
Is desertification still a problem?
More than 75 percent of Earth’s land area is already degraded, according to the European Commission’s World Atlas of Desertification, and more than 90 percent could become degraded by 2050.
Where is desertification an issue?
Africa is the continent most affected by desertification, and one of the most obvious natural borders on the landmass is the southern edge of the Sahara desert. The countries that lie on the edge of the Sahara are among the poorest in the world, and they are subject to periodic droughts that devastate their peoples.
Is there a deforestation problem in China?
China Deforestation Rates & Statistics | GFW. In 2010, China had 133Mha of natural forest, extending over 16% of its land area. In 2020, it lost 328kha of natural forest, equivalent to 131Mt of CO₂ of emissions.
Is deforestation a problem in China?
Deforestation has been taking place in China for thousands of years to make room for farmland and to propel the development of China by providing fuel or timber (Marks, 2012, p. 333).
Is the Gobi Desert spreading?
The Gobi Desert is expanding through desertification, most rapidly on the southern edge into China, which is seeing 3,600 km2 (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year.
Is China stopping desertification?
A 70% survival rate of planted materials has been achieved, and vegetation cover has been restored to 40%. This has effectively stopped the sand dunes from shifting. The approach has helped bring about 6,667 hectares of desert under control.