[3] Since 2022, Sala has published more than 30 studies, spanning across several scientific areas, including drylands, global change, and ecology.

Drylands occupy 40% of the terrestrial surface, represent home for 30% of the human population and host 50% of the global livestock.

[4] He also participated in multiple global-change syntheses, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment that have had significant impact on policy.

For example, Sala and collaborators studied the effects of woody plant encroachment at the global scale and evaluated their impact on livestock production.

Sala 's international leadership positions includes serving terms as President of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), serving as a contributor to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and providing his expertise to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program.

In addition, he serves on a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that has been tasked to assess the environmental effects of nuclear war.