![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/COP16-_UNCCD-1024x203.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Three-Quarters of Earth\u2019s Land Became<\/strong><\/p>\n Permanently Drier in Last Three Decades: UN<\/strong><\/p>\n Aridity: The \u2018existential crisis\u2019 redefining life on Earth<\/p>\n Five billion people could be affected by 2100<\/p>\n Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 9 December \u2013<\/strong> Even as dramatic water-related disasters such as floods and storms intensified in some parts of the world, more than three-quarters of Earth\u2019s land became permanently drier in recent decades, UN scientists warned today in a stark new analysis.<\/p>\n Some 77.6% of Earth\u2019s land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period, according to the landmark report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).<\/em><\/p>\n Over the same period, drylands expanded by about 4.3 million km2 \u2013 an area nearly a third larger than India, the world\u2019s 7th largest country \u2013 and now cover 40.6% of all land on Earth (excluding Antarctica).<\/p>\n In recent decades some 7.6% of global lands \u2013 an area larger than Canada \u2013 were pushed across aridity thresholds (i.e. from non-drylands to drylands, or from less arid dryland classes to more arid classes).<\/p>\n Most of these areas have transitioned from humid landscapes to drylands, with dire implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and the people living there.<\/p>\n And the research warns that, if the world fails to curb greenhouse gas emissions, another 3% of the world\u2019s humid areas will become drylands by the end of this century.<\/p>\n In high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, expanding drylands are forecast across the Midwestern United States, central Mexico, northern Venezuela, north-eastern Brazil, south-eastern Argentina, the entire Mediterranean Region, the Black Sea coast, large parts of southern Africa, and southern Australia.<\/p>\n The report, The Global Threat of Drying Lands: Regional and global aridity trends and future projections,<\/em> was launched at the 16th conference of UNCCD\u2019s nearly 200 Parties in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (COP16), the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP to be held in the Middle East, a region profoundly affected by impacts from aridity.<\/p>\n \u201cThis analysis finally dispels an uncertainty that has long surrounded global drying trends,\u201d says Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary. \u201cFor the first time, the aridity crisis has been documented with scientific clarity, revealing an existential threat affecting billions around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike droughts\u2014temporary periods of low rainfall\u2014aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation,\u201d he adds. \u201cDroughts end. When an area\u2019s climate becomes drier, however, the ability to return to previous conditions is lost.\u00a0 The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were and this change is redefining life on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n The report by UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) \u2014 the UN body for assessing the science of land degradation and drought \u2014 points to human-caused climate change as the primary driver of this shift. Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, transport, industry and land use changes warm the planet and other human activities warm the planet and affect rainfall, evaporation and plant life, creating the conditions that increase aridity.<\/p>\n Global aridity index (AI) data track these conditions and reveal widespread change over the decades.<\/p>\n Areas particularly hard-hit by the drying trend include almost all of Europe (95.9% of its land), parts of the western United States, Brazil, parts of Asia (notably eastern Asia), and central Africa.<\/p>\n By contrast, less than a quarter of the planet\u2019s land (22.4%) experienced wetter conditions, with areas in the central United States, Angola\u2019s Atlantic coast, and parts of Southeast Asia showing some gains in moisture.<\/p>\n The overarching trend, however, is clear: drylands are expanding, pushing ecosystems and societies to suffer from aridity’s life-threatening impacts.<\/p>\n The report names South Sudan and Tanzania as nations with the largest percentage of land transitioning to drylands, and China as the country experiencing the largest total area shifting from non-drylands into drylands.<\/p>\n For the 2.3 billion people \u2013 well over 25% of the world\u2019s population \u2013 living in the expanding drylands, this new normal requires lasting, adaptive solutions. Aridity-related land degradation, known as desertification, represents a dire threat to human well-being and ecological stability.<\/p>\n And as the planet continues to warm, report projections in the worst-case scenario suggest up to 5 billion people could live in drylands by the century\u2019s end, grappling with depleted soils, dwindling water resources, and the diminishment or collapse of once-thriving ecosystems.<\/p>\n Forced migration is one of aridity\u2019s most visible consequences. As land becomes uninhabitable, families and entire communities facing water scarcity and agricultural collapse often have no choice but to abandon their homes, leading to social and political challenges worldwide. From the Middle East to Africa and South Asia, millions are already on the move\u2014a trend set to intensify in coming decades.<\/p>\n Read the full press release with in depth facts and figures here: https:\/\/www.unccd.int\/news-stories\/press-releases\/three-quarters-earths-land-became-permanently-drier-last-three-decades<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Media contacts<\/strong>: press@unccd.int<\/strong><\/p>\n Fragkiska Megaloudi<\/strong>, +30 6945547877 (WhatsApp), fmegaloudi@unccd.int<\/a><\/p>\n Gloria Pallares<\/strong>, +34 606 93 1460, gpallares@unccd.int<\/a><\/p>\nAridification hotspots<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n