As the Earth’s thermostat rises, its land is becoming drier and saltier, spelling disaster for food production and water availability.
This worrying trend, accelerated by climate change, affects three-quarters of the world’s land and threatens the living conditions of billions of people. With 77% of Earth’s land already parched and soils increasingly salty, global warming is truly redefining life on our planet.
A landmark report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) highlights the stark reality of this global crisis.
Drylands, arid regions where water is hard to find, now make up more than 40% of our planet, excluding Antarctica. This is likely a permanent footprint of climate change, and its impact is far-reaching.
Over the past three decades, global warming has dried out 77% of Earth’s land and increased the proportion of excessively salty soils. The trend threatens agricultural productivity, biodiversity, ecosystem health, and exacerbates food and water insecurity.
In simpler terms, it threatens our very existence.
Nichole Barger, an aridlands ecologist with the UNCCD, warns that without concerted efforts, billions face a future marked by hunger, displacement, and economic decline. It’s a chilling prediction that underscores the urgency of this issue.
Alarmingly, climate change has transformed 7.6% of the planet’s land between 1990 and 2020. Most of these impacted areas have shifted from humid landscapes to drylands — defined as an area where 90% of rainfall evaporates before reaching the ground.
Today, these drylands cover an area larger than Canada and are home to about 30% of the world’s population.
The implications are widespread and not limited to traditionally dry regions. High-emission scenarios predict similar changes in areas like the Midwest, central Mexico, and the Mediterranean.
Hannah Waterhouse, a soil and water scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, finds this current expansion alarming because it occurred under conditions that aren’t nearly as hot as what’s predicted to come.
This suggests that the problem will only escalate, leading to issues like widespread conflict as food and water grow scarcer.
Another alarming trend is the salinization of soil. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that 10% of the world’s soils are affected by excess salt, with a further 2.5 billion acres at risk. This surge in saltier soils is directly linked with the expansion of drylands, and the consequences are dire.
High salt levels in soil impair plants’ water absorption, effectively stealing moisture from them and suppressing their growth. This, in turn, diminishes soil fertility and leads to a potential yield loss of up to 70% for crops like rice and beans in the most affected nations.
As it stands, 10 countries, including China, Russia, and the United States, account for 70% of the planet’s salt-affected soils. In monetary terms, this costs the global agriculture sector at least $27 billion every year.
If the world continues to warm at its current rate, more than half of the world’s cropland could be similarly affected by 2050, exacerbating already rising hunger rates.
The situation is dire and demands immediate action. According to the UNCCD, halting the rate of land degradation could cost approximately $4.6 trillion. At least $2.6 trillion is needed by 2030 for restoration and resilience purposes.
There’s no denying that our planet is getting thirstier. The question now is how we respond to these alarming trends and what it means for our future — and most importantly, for the future of our food.
The facts and figures are startling and reveal an uncomfortable truth about our planet’s future. With three-quarters of the world’s land drying out, the impact on our food production and water access is not a distant threat, but an unfolding crisis. The statistics indicate a fundamental shift in our environmental conditions that will redefine life as we know it.
The importance of these shifting environmental conditions can’t be overstated. Drylands are now home to about 30% of the world’s population, a figure that has jumped more than 7% in recent decades.
This means that almost a third of humanity is already grappling with the harsh realities of water scarcity and dwindling crop yields. Even regions not traditionally associated with aridity, like the Midwest, central Mexico, and the Mediterranean, could face similar challenges under high-emission scenarios.
However, it’s not just about land becoming drier. The increase in soil salinity is a parallel crisis. As areas become more arid, less freshwater is available, leading to increased soil salinity that impairs plant growth and reduces crop yields. The economic cost is staggering – salt-affected soils already cost the global agriculture sector at least $27 billion annually.
With these interwoven threats to agricultural productivity and water access, the potential for social and political unrest is high. Hannah Waterhouse’s observation that current geopolitical and ecological events give us a glimpse into what to expect in the future is particularly pertinent. Climate change-induced resource scarcity could lead to widespread conflict, as seen in Sudan.
The United Nations’ calls for concerted efforts and substantial financial investments underline the urgency of this crisis. The cost of halting land degradation, around $4.6 trillion, is high but necessary to prevent an estimated loss of $23 trillion to the global economy by 2050 due to land degradation.
These alarming trends underline the urgency for governments worldwide to prioritize investing in resilience efforts. The time for action is now. The interconnected threats of expanding drylands and saltier soils are not just environmental issues, but socio-economic and geopolitical crises in the making. The world must heed this urgent call for action to mitigate the impacts of climate change and safeguard our future.
The ongoing climate crisis, manifesting as expanding drylands and increased soil salinity, is a stark reminder of the precarious balance in which life on Earth exists. The implications go beyond environmental concerns, threatening food security, economic stability, and geopolitical peace. It’s a complex, interconnected crisis that requires equally multifaceted solutions.
Unfortunately, there’s no expectation that this trend will reverse. But the reality is not one of inevitable doom. It’s a call to action. It’s a challenge to governments, industries, and individuals alike to rethink our relationship with the environment and prioritize sustainable practices.
The challenge may be daunting, but so are the risks of inaction. The question is: how will we respond? Will we rise to meet the challenge or continue on a path that could irreversibly alter life as we know it?
This crisis is already here and deteriorating. But it’s not too late to act. As sobering as these statistics are, they also serve as a powerful reminder of our collective ability to impact change on a global scale. The future is in our hands. But what will we choose to do with it? The clock is ticking.
