Over 3/4th of Earth's land became drier in last 30 years: UN

New Delhi: A report released by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Monday reveals that over 77 percent of Earth's land became drier in the three decades leading up to 2020, compared to the previous 30-year period. The report, unveiled at the 16th UNCCD conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, highlights that global drylands have expanded by approximately 4.3 million square kilometres, an area nearly one-third the size of India, now covering over 40 percent of the Earth's land surface.

The report also warns that if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, another 3 percent of the world's humid areas could transform into drylands by the end of this century. The number of people living in these drylands has doubled to 2.3 billion over the past 30 years, with projections suggesting that up to 5 billion people could inhabit these areas by 2100 in the worst-case climate change scenario. Such populations are increasingly vulnerable to climate-related challenges, including aridification and desertification, which endanger their livelihoods and survival.

The report identifies the drying trend as particularly severe in about 96 percent of Europe, parts of the western United States, Brazil, Asia, and central Africa. It notes that South Sudan and Tanzania have the largest percentages of land transitioning to drylands, while China has experienced the most significant total area shift from non-drylands to drylands.

The report highlights that about half of the world’s dryland inhabitants are located in Asia and Africa. Densely populated regions include California, Egypt, eastern and northern Pakistan, large parts of India, and northeastern China. Projections in high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios indicate that dryland expansion could occur in the Midwestern United States, central Mexico, northern Venezuela, northeastern Brazil, southeastern Argentina, the Mediterranean region, the Black Sea coast, large parts of southern Africa, and southern Australia.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw stated that the findings of the report dispel long-standing uncertainties surrounding global drying trends. The analysis, he noted, documents the aridity crisis with scientific clarity, revealing an existential threat affecting billions around the world. Thiaw emphasized that aridity, unlike temporary droughts, represents a permanent change, with areas becoming drier unlikely to return to their original climate, fundamentally altering life on Earth.

With PTI inputs