Deserts are everywhere. In both
Sands, sand dunes and sandstorms are typical physical characteristics of deserts. But that doesn’t exclude
Are deserts expanding? News reports suggest so. Hot deserts are expanding. These are areas that receive 0 – 250 mm rainfall yearly. Rainforests receive at least 2000 mm a year.
Deserts in the western
Plants not only provide a scenic beauty, shelter or medicinal ingredients, they also lower the wind speed protecting the ground from erosion. Even micro organisms and fungi help preventing erosion. As grazing and farming are overtaking the entire ecosystem unsustainably, natural balance of a delicate system has started to respond irreversibly downgrading.
This expansion of deserts into new areas, desertification, is extremely hard to fight. But still possible by reducing the number of factors needed to run a livelihood in these areas.
- Wind and solar energies can be a perfect alternative to power supply which will reduce dependence on woods for fuel and help preserving the vegetation cover.
- But what about cattle? It’s unrealistic to forbid people having cattle but to offer an alternative to traditional food source, possibly letting cattle to be in farms and let the animals to be used to supplied but nutritional diets.
- Tourism can be an alternative livelihood as more and more people like to go to deserts in their holidays recently.
But it’s the local people who need to be integrated to such enterprise. Letting the Bedouins or locals to follow their thousands years of lifestyles will not solve the problem. When they will be integrated may be only then desert will listen the call and reverse back to its old line.