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Causes Of Desertification

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Desertification is a dynamic process where viable soil becomes degraded land typically resulting from human activities such as deforestation, inappropriate agriculture, or simply due to due climatic variations like drought. Desertification occurs globally in a variety of regions, yet not all regions are alike, thus different forces that may be responsible for desertification. For example, in a region like Africa there are huge atmospheric cycles that occur near the equator that pushes dry air towards Africa. Other forms of desertification can be driven in this area by the extensive agriculture that sustains Africa's growing population. It may also be the lack of advanced technology that has gave first world countries a competitive edge in assessing soils, increasing agricultural production, and lowering pollution levels. In another region such as China, the result of desertification in places around the country derive from toxic levels of pollution, human alteration of the land, and natural causes. Though China may have advanced technology, they still have problems figuring out ways to mitigate this problem due to their gigantic population size. Even the United States has been through a drastic event that caused a huge economic impact and left thousands of landowners unable to farm and make revenue for many years. Although many of these regions have different factors contributing to desertification, many similar trends can be seen that ultimately point to desertification.

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