Desertification, long identified with Africa, could be identified with Canada by 2100. Globally, the rate of desertification is speeding up. Desertification, which increases as warmer temperatures draw moisture out of the soil and rainfall declines, is fueled by unsustainable development, and is projected to eventually cover nearly a third of the world’s land surface, placing 1.2 billion people at risk. The loss of arable land can lead to collapsing fisheries and reduced crop yields. Africa, clearly at greatest risk, with two-thirds of its land already either desert or drylands could lose between a quarter and a half of its river water by 2100. But not even Canada’s Fraser River basin and Thompson River are immune: Sixty percent of the urban expansion in British Columbia occurs on Class I and Class II agricultural and forested lands and its water supply is at risk to population pressures and glaciers and rivers affected by global climate change.
|
