NEW YORK — The United Nations has revealed that the world is losing almost four football fields worth of healthy land every second, a stark indicator of the severity of land degradation and desertification globally. This rapid loss amounts to over 100 million hectares annually, threatening biodiversity, agriculture, and sustainability.
According to Philippines News Agency, desertification not only diminishes land usability but also poses significant threats to global stability, affecting food security and population displacement. Since 1900, drought conditions have been responsible for the deaths of at least 11 million people and have impacted more than 2 billion worldwide. The UN data was gathered ahead of June 17, which has been commemorated as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought since 1994, aiming to spotlight these critical environmental issues.
This year, the observance carries the theme "United for Land: Our Legacy. Our Future," focusing on uniting efforts across society for sustainable land management. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) notes that nearly 84% of terrestrial ecosystems now face increased risks of drought-related wildfires, especially in regions experiencing rapid population growth.
Projections indicate severe future impacts, with over 70% of countries considering the effects of drought and climate change as national security concerns, linking them directly with migration. The World Bank predicts that by 2050, various environmental factors could compel roughly 216 million people to migrate. Currently, 3.6 billion people reside in areas facing significant water scarcity, a figure projected to rise to between 4.8 and 5.7 billion by 2050.
The situation is particularly dire in Africa, where two-thirds of the land is already degraded, affecting nearly half a billion people and hosting the majority of global drought events in recent decades.