KADUNA POLYTECHNIC

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

SCHOOL OF GEODESY AND LAND ADMINISTRATIVE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

COURSE:
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD AND CONTROL

COURSE CODE:
IST 321

QUESTIONS:
1. Identify areas of desert on a well-drawn world map
2. Explain the causes of desertification
3. Discuss the effect of desertification on man and the
environment
4. Explain how desertification can be controlled

PREPARED BY:
ZAHARAU ABDULAZEEZ
CES21HND0062

SUBMITTED TO:
DR. S.O AKOH

FEBRUARY, 2023

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INTRODUCTION
A desert is a region that obtains incredibly less amount of precipitation or it can
be also defined as an area where more water is lost by evaporation than water
received by precipitation. Most deserts receive an average precipitation of less
than 400 mm annually.

Q1. Deserts of the World Map

Deserts cover about one-third of the Earth's land surface. The World Desert map
shows the types of deserts and their locations around the world.

World Deserts Map

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 The deserts in the world are divided into three types.

1. Subtropical deserts - they are the hottest deserts with dry terrain and rapid
evaporation rate.
2. Cool coastal deserts - the average temperature in these deserts is much
cooler because of cold offshore oceanic currents.
3. Cold winter deserts - they are striking with harsh temperature differences
ranging from 38°C in summers to -12°C in winters.
Apart from these the Polar Regions are also measured as deserts because
virtually all the moisture in these parts is accumulated in the form of ice.
DESERT SIZE LOCATION FACTS
SUBTROPICAL DESRTS
Egypt, Algeria, Eritrea,
The world's largest hot desert.
Chad, Libya, Mauritania,
9,400,00 The desert climate is very
Sahara Mali, Morocco, Sudan,
0 km2 extreme with scorching days
Niger, Tunisia, Djibouti
and frigid nights.
and Western Sahara
930,000 Namibia, Botswana and It's a huge semi-arid sandy
Kalahari
km2 South Africa. savannah.
Eastern Libya,
1,100,00 This desert is mostly sandy or
Libyan northwestern Sudan and
0 km2 stony plain.
southwestern Egypt.
400,000 It's an arid region with
Nubian northeastern Sudan
km2 virtually no rainfall and oases.
Danakil 150,000 northeast Ethiopia, south It's known as the "Cruelest
km2 Eritrea and Djibouti Place on Earth" the desert is
known for its extreme heat
and in-hospitability

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 atmosphere.
Saudi Arabia, United Arab The largest sand desert in the
Rub al 650,000
Emirates, Oman and world. The desert is the most
Khali km2
Yemen. oil-rich site in the world.
It's also known as the Syro-
500,000 Iraq, Jordan, Syria and
Syrian Arabian. The desert is very
km2 Saudi Arabia.
rocky and flat.
It's known as the great arc of
103,600
An Nafud Saudi Arabia reddish sand desert in central
km2
Saudi Arabia.
With frequent sandstorms the
650,000
Ad Dahna Saudi Arabia desert is known for its sudden
km2
violent winds.
It is largely a barren region of
200,000
Thar India, Pakistan shifting sand dunes, scrub
km2
flora and a rural economy.
Great 424,400 It's the largest desert in
Australia
Victoria km2 Australia.
Great 284,993 It's the second largest desert in
Australia
Sandy km2 Australia
176,500 It's a large area of dry, red
Simpson Australia
km2 sandy plain and dunes
It is the home of Aboriginal
155,000
Gibson Australia Indigenous Australians, Red
km2
Kangaroos and Emu.
The desert has basins, plains,
Sonoran 311,000
United States, Mexico mountain ridges & is home to
km2
the Saguaro cactus.

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 Although the desert is sparsely
124,000 populated, several cities can
Mojave United States
km2 be found here, including the
largest 'Las Vegas'.
188,735 The desert is composed of
Sechura Peru
km2 equatorial dry forests.
COLD WINTER DESERTS
Great 492,000 It's the largest United States
United States
Basin km2 desert.
It is the largest desert in
670,000
Patagonian Argentina and Chile Argentina and is the 7th
km2
largest desert in the world.
As the name says 'black sand',
Karakum / 350,000
Turkmenistan the area has significant oil and
Garagum km2
natural gas deposits.
Kyzyl Important natural-gas deposits
298,000 Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
Kum / are found in this red sand
km2 and Uzbekistan.
Qizilqum desert.
The desert has very little water
Taklamaka 337,000
People's Republic of China making it is hazardous to
n km2
cross.
It is the largest cold winter
desert and is made up of
1,300,00 People's Republic of China
Gobi diverse geographic regions
0 km2 and Mongolia
based on difference in climate
and topography.
Leh / 86,904 India Scant rainfall makes

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 Leh/Ladakh a high-altitude
Ladakh km2 desert with extremely scarce
vegetation.
COOL COASTAL DESERTS
It is the driest desert in the
140,000 Chile, Peru, Bolivia, world. The land is often
Atacama
km2 Argentina compared with the land on the
planet Mars.
Most of the precipitation is
from fog from the Atlantic
81,000 Angola, Namibia and
Namib Ocean. Unusual species of
km2 South Africa.
plants and animals are found
only in this desert.

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Q2. CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION
In general, desertification is caused by variations in climate and by
unsustainable land-management practices in dryland environments. By their
very nature, arid and semiarid ecosystems are characterized by sparse or
variable rainfall. Thus, climatic changes such as those that result in extended
droughts can rapidly reduce the biological productivity of those ecosystems.
Such changes may be temporary, lasting only a season, or they may persist
over many years and decades. On the other hand, plants and animals are quick
to take advantage of wetter periods, and productivity can rapidly increase
during these times.

Desertification is a process by which fertile land is transformed into desert as

it becomes progressively drier and unable to support any plant growth for
food production. Unlike the natural desert ecosystem with well-adapted
species still inhabiting the area, desertified lands are often devoid of natural
life without a healthy ecosystem in place that would perform life-supporting
services, like new soil formation and nutrient cycling. This is what makes the
reversal of the process extremely difficult.

Lands turn to desert due to a number of reasons, but much of the

desertification that is occurring around the world today is caused by human
activity on lands that are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and
improper agricultural methods.

The following are some of the primary causes of desertification in our world.
1. Overgrazing
Overgrazing and desertification have been always closely linked together.
In dry regions, grass and other small vegetation is necessary to keep the soil
in place to prevent erosion and further damage to the soil. However, it is the
paradox of life that especially in these vulnerable regions, animal herding is

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often the only livelihood people can have and there are no restrictions in place
that would regulate the maximum number of animals for a given space.
When people gather and keep too many animals in one area, grasses start
dying because their roots are often weakened by animals constantly stepping
on them and plucking out newly re-growing parts before plants have time to
grow resistant enough and to multiply.
After some time, no vegetation remains to prevent soil from blowing or
washing away. So, people move the livestock to another piece of land where
the process repeats. If this occurs long enough, it leads to extensive
desertification.

2. Unsustainable agriculture techniques

The world’s drylands cover approximately 40 percent of the total land mass.
They are home to more than 2 billion people, so it is clear that many of these
areas are farmed, even though they are very fragile and can easily turn barren.
Through inconsiderate farming methods like heavy tilling, planting of
unsuitable crops and leaving soils exposed to wind and rain erosion, farmers
only speed up the process of desertification in exchange for poor quality crops
with low economic value. Besides, while preparing the soil for sowing,
natural vegetation that holds the brittle soil in place is removed, letting the
last bits of the productive soil layer fully wear away in just a few short
seasons.

3. Deforestation
Deforestation is one of the leading human causes of desertification. Forests
are being cut down at much larger scale than ever before, to be used as fuel, to
provide products we use in our daily life, or to simply create more space for
agriculture to sustain growing human population.

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When the trees and other vegetation in an area are gone, there are no roots
that would hold soils in place, there is no canopy that would shield the ground
from the direct rainfall or from the sun’s heat. The bare soil then easier dries
out and turns to dust, which can be blown and washed away in a single storm.

Once the soil is degraded and the precious nutrients are lost, only infertile and
lifeless swaths of land are left behind. And what’s more, without trees, even
the local climate becomes drier due to the lack of water evapotranspiration
from tree canopy, which reduces cloud formation in the region and results in
less rain.

4. Unsustainable water management

Drylands, the most susceptible areas to desertification, are characterized by a
scarcity of water during certain periods of the year. This means that the
original ecosystem of these lands is well-adapted to withstand dry seasons
during which plants enter so called summer dormancy, a temporary cessation
of growth, in order to preserve themselves, only to turn green and strong as
soon as rains come again.

5. Climate change
Climate change cause desertification. As we continue to remove natural
vegetation from landscapes, we change radically the water absorption
capacity of soils. With less permanent vegetation that would help retain
moisture in soils and with less moisture evaporating into the air from plants,
less clouds form in that particular area. That means also less rain throughout
the year.
With significantly reduced rainfall, drought occurs and triggers problems such
as failing harvests, drying creeks and boreholes, poor pasture that weakens
livestock, and more frequent outbreaks of wildfires that destroy remaining
vegetation.

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Q3.  EFFECT OF DESERTIFICATION ON MAN
The loss of vegetation cover and therefore of food for livestock and humans.
Increased risk of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19. Loss of forest cover,
with a corresponding shortage of wood resources. The decrease in drinking
water reserves due to the loss of aquifers.

Crop failure, soil erosion, famine and hunger: people are then less able to work
when their need is greatest. It becomes a vicious circle and can result in many
deaths, especially among infants and the elderly.

 higher threats of malnutrition from reduced food and water supplies;

 more water- and food-borne diseases that result from poor hygiene and a
lack of clean water;
 respiratory diseases caused by atmospheric dust from wind erosion and other
air pollutants;
 the spread of infectious diseases as populations migrate.

EFFECT OF DESERTIFICATION ON ENVIRONMENT

Desertification has massive repercussions on the environment, including loss of
biodiversity and vegetation, food insecurity, increased risk of zoonotic diseases
(an infectious disease transmitted between species) such as COVID-19, loss of
forest cover and shortages of drinking water due to the loss of aquifers.

There are several immediate consequences of desertification, both direct and

indirect. They are: environmental degradation that reduces the land’s resilience
to climate variability; compromised potential for food production; an increase in
the incidence of famine; indirect pressures on areas outside the immediately
affected areas; and socio-economic instability. In turn, these factors have the
potential to exacerbate other challenges facing the region.

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Desertification reduces the land’s resilience to natural climate variability. Soil,
vegetation, freshwater supplies, and other dry-land resources tend to be
resilient. They can eventually recover from climatic disturbances, such as
drought, and even from human-induced impacts, such as overgrazing. When
land is degraded, however, this resilience is greatly weakened, resulting in both
physical and socio-economic consequences. Soil becomes less productive when
exposed and eroded topsoil is blown away by the wind or washed away by
rainstorms. The soil’s physical structure and biochemical composition can then
deteriorate as vital nutrients are removed by wind or water. If the water table
rises due to inadequate drainage and poor irrigation practices, the soil can
become waterlogged, and salts may build up. When soil is trampled and
compacted by cattle, it can lose its ability to support plant growth and to hold
moisture, resulting in increased evaporation and surface run-off. The loss of
vegetation cover is both a consequence and a cause of land degradation. Loose
soil can sandblast plants, bury them, or leave their roots dangerously exposed.
When pastures are overgrazed by too many animals, or by inappropriate types,
edible plant species may be lost, allowing inedible species to invade.

Q4. HOW DESERTIFICATION CAN BE CONTROLLED

1. Afforestation and planting of soil binding grasses can check soil erosion,
floods and water logging.

2. Crop rotation and mixed cropping improve the fertility of the soil. It would
increase production which can sustain large population.
3. Desertification can be checked by artificial bunds or covering the area with
proper type of vegetation.

Prevention is much more cost-effective than rehabilitation. Desertification can

be reduced by adopting the following strategies:

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 Planting more trees - the roots of trees hold the soil together and help to
reduce soil erosion from wind and rain.
 Improving the quality of the soil - this can be managed by encouraging
people to reduce the number of grazing animals they have and grow crops
instead. The animal manure can be used to fertilise the crops grown. Growing
crops in this way can improve the quality of the soil as it is held together by
the roots of plants and protected from erosion. This type of farming is
more sustainable.
 Water management - water can be stored in earth dams in the wet season
and used to irrigate crops during the dry season. This is an example of
using appropriate technology to manage water supplies in the desert
environment.
 Magic stones (or bunds) are circles of stones placed on the ground to hold
water on the soil rather than letting it run quickly over the surface.
 Drip irrigation is where water drips slowly onto the ground from pin-sized
holes in a hose lying on top of the soil. This minimises water loss, maximises
effectiveness and can be delivered via a solar pump.

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REFERENCES
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2. Herrmann, S., and Hutchinson, C. (2005). The changing contexts of the

desertification debate. Journal of Arid Environments, 63, 538-555.

3. Mitchell, T. (June 2005) Sahel Rainfall Index. Joint Institute for the Study of
the Atmosphere and Ocean. Accessed January 1, 2007

4. Nicholson, S. (2005). On the question of the “recovery” of the rains in the

West African Sahel. Journal of Arid Environments, 63, 615-641.

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Geophysics, 38(1), 117-139.

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7. Prince, S., Brown de Colstoun, E., and Kravitz, L. (1998). Evidence from
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