Land degradation
Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and wildfires.
Human-induced land degradation and water scarcity are increasing the levels of risk for agricultural production and ecosystem services.
[5] As per the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, land degradation is in defined as "the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity of drylands".
[12] Land degradation is mainly derived by numerous, complex, and interrelated anthropogenic and/or natural proximate and underlying causes.
[1] Land degradation is a global problem largely related to the agricultural sector, general deforestation and climate change.
Over the period 1961–2013, the annual area of drylands in drought has increased, on average by slightly more than 1% per year, with large inter-annual variability.
People living in already degraded or desertified areas are increasingly negatively affected by climate change (high confidence).
[15] Significant land degradation from seawater inundation, particularly in river deltas and on low-lying islands, is a potential hazard that was identified in a 2007 IPCC report.
[17] In the 2022 IPCC report,[18] land degradation is responding more directly to climate change as all types of erosion and SOM declines (soil focus) are increasing.
They include lower crop yields, less diverse ecosystems, more vulnerability to natural disasters like floods and droughts, people losing their homes, less food available, and economic problems.
[12] Sensitivity is the degree to which a land system undergoes change due to natural forces, human intervention or a combination of both.
Resilience is the ability of a landscape to absorb change, without significantly altering the relationship between the relative importance and numbers of individuals and species that compose the community.
Education, outreach campaigns, and knowledge-sharing platforms can empower individuals, communities, and stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices and become stewards of the land.
