Land degradation threatens millions of people in the future

Most climate science focuses on the atmosphere and the ocean, but a new report shows that the state of land is also important.

According to the first report on health and land status, conducted by scientists with Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, or IPBES, about 75% of the planet's land area is significantly degraded. Degraded land will threaten billions of people and existent ecosystems that rely on land.

Researchers blame the decline in soil health on a combination of problems including unsustainable farming, mining, industrial pollution and climate change. According to research, the rapid expansion of agricultural land and grazing, unsustainable management practices, is the biggest cause of land degradation.

"With these negative impacts that will impact at least 3.2 billion people, the degradation of the earth's surface through human activities is pushing things to the brink of local extinction in the future . " - scientists said. 'Restoring degraded land is a top priority to protect ecosystems and biodiversity that are important to life on earth and to ensure people's lives .'

With the growing demand for population, the expansion of land resource exploitation and fossil fuel exploitation, scientists believe that problems affecting the health of the land will deteriorate in the decades. next year - unless we have strong policy changes.

Researchers predict that about 95% of the earth's land area can be degraded by 2050, if these trends continue.

Degradation seriously affects the role of the earth on earth, especially food and water security. Most of the world's population is facing the risk of drinking clean water. Reducing the health of the land also reduces the loss of biodiversity across the planet.

The new report is approved by IPBES members in Colombia this week. It is compiled by 100 leading experts, including climate scientists, environmental scientists, planetary scientists, biologists and ecologists from 45 countries. .

Robert Watson, president of IPBES, said: "Through this report, the global community of experts has issued a straightforward and urgent warning, with clear choices to overcome the environmental damage. severe land degradation, loss of biodiversity and climate change are three different aspects of the same challenge, we cannot overcome only one of the three because each face deserves to receive the favor. Highest priority policy and must be resolved together ".

The good news is that efforts to promote sustainability and control the expansion of farmland and grazing land can have significant positive impacts.

The report provides a number of specific solutions, including: strengthening efforts to reduce land loss and replenishment, improve soil health, combined with more sustainable agricultural practices. The authors of the report also suggest replanting native species, supplying water to dry wetlands, improving wastewater treatment and promoting green infrastructure.