Drought and Desertification 🌡️ — Causes, Impacts, and Solutions for a Changing Climate

Let’s celebrate! 🎉
It’s my birthday! (Well, not quite 😉)

Next week, 5th June, we celebrate World Environment Day.
Each year there is a focus for action.
#generationrestoration is a continuing theme, with a spotlight on drought resilience.

This Friday Find will focus on drought 🌡️.
Note: an observation day to combat drought and desertification is held in June.

👉 What is drought?

Drought is a long period with little or no rain.
It occurs when the precipitation cycle is disrupted and water reservoirs become unbalanced.

📅 How is it calculated?

Different indices measure short- and long-term droughts and water-reservoir levels.
The Combined Drought Indicator (CDI), developed in 2012, is used in the European Drought Observatory.
It combines drought indicators (soil and rain-related) and recommends steps to take.

❗ Drought warning

Drought is a global issue, but South America has had the driest 12 months (May 2023 – April 2024).
40% of global land is already degraded through drought.
Every second, several acres of land become degraded.

👉 Drought impact

Less fertile land.
Reduced crop harvest means less food and lower farmer revenue, making food more expensive.
Less drinking water for people and animals.
More cross-border disputes.
More forest fires.
More energy-intensive water pumping and seawater treatment.

👉 Drought and desertification

Water mismanagement, cross-border disputes, and groundwater depletion cause desertification.
The mismanagement of freshwater goes back thousands of years.
In northern China, lush green areas became desert due to groundwater misuse.
This irreversible change has also occurred in the Middle East.

🙌 Solutions

Investment in land restoration offers high returns — $1 invested can yield up to $30 in benefits.
Join the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) initiative. Over 130 countries have pledged support.
Implement global alert systems like the CDI.
Develop cross-border water agreements, despite the difficulty of managing conflicts.
Use science and technology: satellite-based monitoring, water-management models, simulations, and knowledge-sharing.
Encourage innovation — for example, Waterise in Norway uses underwater pressure to improve seawater desalination efficiency.

💦 Water-resource management

Agriculture is key: use drip irrigation, micro-sprinklers, soil-moisture sensing, cover crops, and drought-tolerant crops.
💡 Agriculture uses almost 70% of Earth’s freshwater.
Collect rainwater, recycle, filter, and reuse wastewater.

🙌 What can you do?
Check my water post from last week for a list of actions we can all take! 👏

…And if you want to read more about what I do in the climate space, then please do check out my services.

Sources: UN, Cambridge Dictionary, Euronews, NCEI, H2O Global News, Drought.gov, EC, Evertreen, NLM