Egypt is one of the most arid lands in the world as 86 per cent of its total area is hyper arid while the re- maining area is arid and semi-arid (Meigs 1953). Four agro-ecological zones are distinguished, namely, the Nile Valley, the North Coastal Zone, the Inland Sinai, the Eastern Desert and the Western Desert.
What are the causes of arid? Various Causes of Desertification
- Overgrazing. …
- Deforestation. …
- Farming Practices. …
- Excessive Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides. …
- Overdrafting of groundwater. …
- Urbanization and Other Types of Land Development. …
- Climate Change. …
- Stripping the Land of Resources.
Similarly, What are the types of arid land? Three arid zones can be delineated by this index: namely, hyper-arid, arid and semi-arid. Of the total land area of the world, the hyper-arid zone covers 4.2 percent, the arid zone 14.6 percent, and the semiarid zone 12.2 percent.
How do arid countries get water?
The study will also discuss the best alternative water supply that can be used in an arid country. The most important alternative water supplies are desalination, grey water, rainwater harvesting, and stormwater harvesting. Such alternatives have been used for several decades in many places around the world.
What is the problem of arid areas in Egypt?
Land degradation in arid areas is not only limited to droughts but also to inundation of coastal arid lands, such as in Egypt, where increases in sea level have caused intrusions of saline water onto agricultural lands, thus making farming unproductive except on lands along the Nile (Darwish et al., 2013) . …
Where is desertification occurring today?
Africa is the simple answer to the question: where is desertification happening? More specifically, desertification plays its largest role in the grasslands of East Africa, the Kalahari Desert and the Sahara Desert. These regions span over 65 percent of the land.
What is meant by arid areas? Arid regions by definition receive little precipitation—less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain per year. Semi-arid regions receive 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain per year.
Where is desertification in Africa? Practically every country of Africa is prone to desertification, but the Sahelian countries at the southern fringe of the Sahara are particularly vulnerable. Only about 19% of Niger is non-desert and of this 17% belongs to high and very high vulnerability classes.
How many people live in arid regions?
2.1 billion people live in the world’s deserts and drylands.
What are the two types of arid region? Arid regions of the world were classified into four categories, namely A, severe deserts, where both aridity and vegetation indices are very small; G, semi-arid regions, where the vegetation index is proportionally related to the AI; I, irrigated areas and oases, where the vegetation is relatively abundant despite …
What is the meaning of arid land?
Deserts (arid lands/drylands) constitute about 35% of the land areas of the world and are typically characterized by rainfall scarcity, higher temperatures and evapotranspiration, lower humidity, and a general paucity of vegetation cover.
How can we save water in arid areas? Some of the most important measures to practice water conservation in arid areas are the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater, the re-use of effluent, artificial aquifer recharge, and the utilization of sand storage dams to reduce evaporation.
How do you get water in arid climate?
Look for damp ground, vegetation, and dry river beds. These things can all indicate underground water. If you dig a hole a few feet deep nearby, it’s likely water will seep in. If possible, always filter the water.
How much of Egypt is arid?
Egypt is an arid country, which covers an area of about 1,000,000 km2 of which only 4% is occupied by its population.
What is the meaning of arid areas? 1 : excessively dry specifically : having insufficient rainfall to support agriculture an arid region.
What caused desertification in Egypt?
Also, there are many of desertification causes in Egypt, e.g. the urban encroachment, Pollution, Depletion of the Soil Fertility, Water and soil salinity, Sand Dunes, Soil Erosion, and other indirect reasons lead to land degradation.
Which countries are suffering from desertification?
These regions – representing around 14 million hectares – show high sensitivity to desertification. Thirteen Member States have declared themselves affected by desertification under UNCCD: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Why is desertification in Ethiopia? The major causes of land degradation in Ethiopia are the rapid population increase, severe soil loss, deforestation, low vegetative cover and unbalanced crop and livestock production. Inappropriate land-use systems and land-tenure policies enhance desertification and loss of agrobiodiversity.
Where do drought and desertification occur?
While recurrent droughts are a common feature throughout most of the drylands in Africa, three distinct areas have been identified as most at risk: Mediterranean Africa, the Sudano-Sahelian region and the Kalahari-Namib region in southern Africa.
Is Australia arid? Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world; 70% of it is either arid or semi arid land. The arid zone is defined as areas which receive an average rainfall of 250mm or less.
Where is desertification in South Africa?
South Africa is losing about 300 to 400 million tons of topsoil every year. Areas such as the Northern Cape are especially prone to desertification. To halt desertification the number of animals on the land must be reduced, allowing plants to regrow.
What is Nigeria doing about desertification? Nigeria, where about 35 per cent of the total land area was affected by desertification by 2015, has rehabilitated over 1,558.62 hectare (ha) of degraded land and lifted more than 8,000 people out of poverty, through a World Bank project aimed at reducing vulnerability to soil erosion.
How much of Africa is arid?
Status of aridity
About 45% of the landmass in Africa is dry land and is comparable only with Asia, which has 39% of its landmass as dry land indicating that Africa is the driest of the world continents. Aridity zones for Africa have been calculated using the high-resolution climate data (Corbett at al.