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Deserts Being Destroyed - College Paper

Deserts Being Destroyed

The deserts of the world are threatened by a combination of human exploitation and climate change that could, within decades, wipe out many unique habitats and rare species, an authoritative study has found.

While climate change is causing many semi-dry regions of the world to become increasingly arid, it is making life more difficult for true deserts that have been in existence for thousands of years.

Deserts account for up to 25 per cent of the Earth's land surface, are home to half a billion people and account for 12 per cent of the biodiversity "hotspots" - the richest areas in terms of rare animals and plants. Yet warmer temperatures and less predicable rainfall caused by climate ...

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the report by the United Nations Environment Programme. "True deserts are not the final stage of a process of desertification," says the report, Global Deserts Outlook, published today.

"They are unique, highly adapted natural ecosystems, both providing life-supporting services on the planet and supporting human populations in much the same ways as in other ecosystems," the report says.

Andrew Warren, a professor of geography at University College London and one of the report's lead authors, said that over the course of his 45-year career he has witnessed the growing threat to deserts.

"What alarms me now is that they are threatened as never before, by climate change, by over-exploitation of groundwater, salinisation and the extinction of wildlife," Professor Warren said. Desert animals at risk include the gazelle, the oryx, the addax, the Arabian tahr, the Barbary sheep and the Asian houbara bustard.

"We risk losing not only astounding landscapes and ancient ...

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Deserts Being Destroyed. (2013, April 23). Retrieved January 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Deserts-Being-Destroyed/102581

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 4/23/2013 02:13:23 PM
Submitted By: jellybelly247
Category: Environment
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 529
Pages: 2

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