What Is Desertification?

Desertification, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification signed in Paris in October 1994, is a process of “land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.”

Known as the “cancer of the earth,” desertification is one of the four eco-environmental problems that haunted human society in the last five decades of the 20th century and into the 21st century; the other three are global climate change, biodiversity preservation, and environmental pollution.

(China.org.cn September 12, 2007)