A global desiccation is advancing without much brake across the world. Arid and parched lands that are on the path to desertification continue to gain ground throughout the planet. Four million km2 in the last 30 years, according to the UN. And one of the points where “a significant expansion” is observed is “the entire Mediterranean basin” in which Spain is embedded.
In fact, in Spain, the arid climate has spread across the country at a rate of 1,500 km2 per year since 1950 to the detriment of more temperate climates, according to the Aemet climate evolution study. These data “synthesize the effects of global warming observed in recent decades on the distribution of climates and vegetation in Spain,” the Agency emphasizes.
“Much of the recent increase in aridity can be attributed to human-induced climate change,” he agrees and concludes. the specific UN report released this Monday. The process involves the rise in temperatures generated by the greenhouse effect – which evaporates more and makes plants thirstier – together with a decrease in precipitation.
Desertification, plastic pollution, climate change respond to the same thing: it is necessary to change the consumption model and that requires many sacrifices or rather entering into a radically different way of life
Jaime Martínez Valderrama
— Researcher at the Ramón Margalef Institute of the University of Alicante
Arid lands, in general, are those where rainfall does not cover at least 65% of the water demand made by the atmosphere and plants. This is the water that, after raining, returns to the atmosphere in the form of vapor from a soil covered with vegetation. When a piece of land fails to reach that percentage, it is susceptible to desertification.
And this phenomenon is what is advancing non-stop across the planet driven by global warming: it already accounts for 40% of the surface land (if Antarctica is discounted). In Spain, 75% of the territory falls into one of the arid soil categories.
This process of planetary desiccation shows a pronounced trend since 1950 and an acceleration since the 1990s, scientists note. “Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have played a key role in the expansion of drylands, especially in the last three decades,” concludes the study from the Convention to Combat Desertification.
Furthermore, the risk of desertification due to aridity will increase especially in Europe, western Asia, northern China, the Sahel and Mexico, according to the work’s projections. And he points out among the affected areas “large areas of Spain or southern Italy.”
Soil degradation
Because aridity, in short, is the open door to the desertification of the territory. AND Desertification means “land degradation.” Fertile soil becomes arid and leads to a drop in productivity, or in other words, in the soil’s ability to grow plants or crops. An “irreversible decline on a human time scale,” says the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
“Aridity is considered the main cause of the degradation of agricultural systems,” explains the UN. The disappearance of green cover causes loss of soil – more vulnerable to erosion – and that ends up harming crops, because these degraded soils are less fertile.
In fact, this soil degradation can be considered a problem “of special importance in Spain”, explains this joint analysis from the universities of Munich, Almería, Quintana Roo and Castilla-La Mancha. This relevance is given, he argues, due to the “climatic, geographical and socioeconomic particularities” of the country since “a large part of the territory is occupied by agricultural activities” which makes them the “main use of the land.”
However, this threat is “very far” from moving anyone because, “if climate change, which is more perceptible and an easier problem to communicate, does not get the population to change their habits or demand changes in the model from politicians, least a much more confusing process,” reflects agricultural engineer Jaime Martínez Valderrama, who has been studying desertification processes in Spain for years.
The researcher concludes: “Desertification, plastic pollution, climate change… everything responds to the same thing. “It is necessary to change the prevailing consumption model and that requires many sacrifices or rather entering into a radically different way of life.”
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