Land degradation due to deforestation and frequent drought due to variation in rainfall can lead to desertification. This is where arid lands lose productiveness and become more desert like. The Sahel of West Africa is located just south of the Sahara desert is an example of a region that underwent desertification beginning in 1968. The desertification of the Sahel lead to failed rains and a long period of drought, resulting in famine in this region. This famine lead to a major loss in cattle, harvests, and ultimately killed a quarter of a million people (Marston et al. 2014). Recent attention has been focussed on this issue to determine whether the devastation that occurred in the Sahel was human induced as a result of population growth, poverty, and over grazing of herds or whether it was due to climate change. If the desertification in the Sahel was ultimately due to human behavior, then it is important to take the next steps in preventing further desertification in the Sahel and in other regions (Giannini, Saravanan & Chang, 2003).
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Climate is only part of a combination of many different processes that make the ability to sustain life difficult in many parts of the world. I believe that the combined effects of land degradation, population growth, a change in rainfall, and few environmental policies have all contributed to the disaster in the Sahel. Therefore, I think that human behavior had a major impact on the desertification of the Sahel. Learning these facts changed my way of thinking because when I read about this issue in the textbook, the first thing I thought about was drought, and that the only thing that could really influence drought would be a change in precipitation. I think that drought did have a big role in the desertification of the Sahel but human behavior did have a large impact. The degree to which this issue affected the entire region of the Sahel (in famine) could have been reduced without the effect of human behavior. As we know, humans are also a major contributor to global climate change so we are ultimately contributing to the effect that climate change has on drought and desertification. Furthermore, the textbook and further readings allowed me to expand on my knowledge that conflicted with the previous image I had of desertification. I believe that many other people have this view as well and I
Climate is only part of a combination of many different processes that make the ability to sustain life difficult in many parts of the world. I believe that the combined effects of land degradation, population growth, a change in rainfall, and few environmental policies have all contributed to the disaster in the Sahel. Therefore, I think that human behavior had a major impact on the desertification of the Sahel. Learning these facts changed my way of thinking because when I read about this issue in the textbook, the first thing I thought about was drought, and that the only thing that could really influence drought would be a change in precipitation. I think that drought did have a big role in the desertification of the Sahel but human behavior did have a large impact. The degree to which this issue affected the entire region of the Sahel (in famine) could have been reduced without the effect of human behavior. As we know, humans are also a major contributor to global climate change so we are ultimately contributing to the effect that climate change has on drought and desertification. Furthermore, the textbook and further readings allowed me to expand on my knowledge that conflicted with the previous image I had of desertification. I believe that many other people have this view as well and I