Rising desertification shows we can't keep farming with fossil fuels

[Jim__]

From phys.org

Three-quarters of Earth's land has become drier since 1990. Droughts come and go—more often and more extreme with the incessant rise of greenhouse gas emissions over the last three decades—but burning fossil fuels is transforming our blue planet. A new report from scientists convened by the United Nations found that an area as large as India has become arid, and it's probably permanent.

A transition from humid to dry land is underway that has shrunk the area available to grow food, costing Africa 12% of its GDP and depleting our natural buffer to rising temperatures. We have covered several consequences of humanity's fossil fuel addiction in this newsletter. Today we turn to the loss of life-giving moisture—what is driving it, and what we are ultimately losing.

Why is the land drying out so fast? It's partly because there is more heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases emitted from burning fossil fuels. This excess heat has exacerbated evaporation and is drawing more moisture out of soil.

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"Soil is being lost up to 100 times faster than it is formed, and desertification is growing year on year," says Anna Krzywoszynska, a sustainable food expert at the University of Sheffield.

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[walkingman]

1. The problem is worldwide but here in the US I think the government subsidized crop insurance

allows farmers to continue their "bad" practices. Instead of subsizing bad behavior reward good behavior. There is no incentive for this if you know you are going to get paid anyway. The system is corrupt and is basically a pay-for-play system that is used to get votes.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Related

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127178869
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127178753