1191 | Land Degradation Challenges and Sustainability | Matija Zorn (1); Joaquim Farguell Pérez (2)
Land degradation is the result of human-induced actions that exploit soil and lead to degradation of its benefits, biodiversity, soil fertility and overall health. Land is being rapidly degraded around the world. Healthy natural resources and thriving ecosystems are needed to ensure food security for a growing global population. However, our current agricultural practices are causing the world’s soils to be degraded up to 100 times faster than they are regenerating through natural processes. We have already altered 70% of all ice-free land, affecting over 3.2 billion people. If we continue as we are, 90% of the land will bear our mark by the mid-21st century. The impacts of land degradation will be felt by most of the world’s population. Land degradation also alters and disrupts rainfall patterns, exacerbates weather extremes such as droughts or floods and causes accelerated erosion, not to mention influencing climate change. It leads to social and political instability that fosters poverty, conflict, and migration, thus sustainable solutions are needed to tackle all these challenges.The Land Degradation Challenges and Sustainability session will be organised by the Commission on Land Degradation and Desertification (COMLAND) of the International Geographical Union, which has been promoting and coordinating interdisciplinary research on land degradation and desertification for three decades and seeks to find sustainable solutions. Session type: presentationsLanguage: English
Matija Zorn (1); Joaquim Farguell Pérez (2)
(1) Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute, (2) Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Departament de Geografia
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