Earth:Aridification

From HandWiki
Short description: Long-term process of a region becoming increasingly arid

Aridification is the process of a region becoming increasingly arid, or dry. It refers to long term change,[1] rather than seasonal variation.

It is often measured as the reduction of average soil moisture content. It can be caused by reduced precipitation, increased evaporation, lowering of water tables, and changes in ground cover acting individually or in combination. Its major consequences include reduced agricultural production, soil degradation, ecosystem changes and decreased water catchment runoff.[2]

Some researchers have found that the Colorado River basin and other parts of western North America are currently undergoing aridification.[3][4]

See also


References

  1. Heidari, Hadi; Arabi, Mazdak; Warziniack, Travis; Kao, Shih-Chieh (2020). "Assessing Shifts in Regional Hydroclimatic Conditions of U.S. River Basins in Response to Climate Change over the 21st Century" (in en). Earth's Future 8 (10): e2020EF001657. doi:10.1029/2020EF001657. ISSN 2328-4277. Bibcode2020EaFut...801657H. 
  2. "GLASOD Classification of Soil Degradation". February 2000. http://www.unescap.org/STAT/envstat/stwes-class-glasod.pdf. 
  3. Erickson, Jim (May 19, 2020). "But it's a dry heat: Climate change and the aridification of North America". University of Michigan. https://news.umich.edu/but-its-a-dry-heat-climate-change-and-the-aridification-of-north-america/. 
  4. Overpeck, Jonathan T.; Udall, Bradley (2020). "Climate change and the aridification of North America". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (22): 11856–11858. doi:10.1073/pnas.2006323117. PMID 32430321. Bibcode2020PNAS..11711856O.