United States of the World celebrates world desertification and drought day
The "United States of the World" celebrated the 'World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought' called for by the United Nations in a 1995 resolution.
This year, the theme of the World Day focused on drought: 'Rising up from drought together'.
President Michele Capasso highlighted the seriousness of the problem and the tropicalisation process underway also in Europe and, in particular, in Italy.
Only through long-term environmental policies will it be possible to stem and govern a phenomenon with catastrophic prospects.
According to Global Land Outlook estimates, 70% of ice-free areas have been altered by man, with direct and indirect consequences on about 3.2 billion people, and it is expected that by 2050 this share could reach 90%. And currently about 500 million people live in areas where degradation has reached its highest level, i.e. total loss of productivity defined as desertification. Africa, in particular the area south of the Sahara, is the most affected by this phenomenon: 73% of arable dry land is already degraded or already completely desertified; Asia, the Middle East, and South America also present a high risk of soil degradation. Even highly developed countries, such as the United States or Australia, have areas with a high risk of desertification, such as in the central and western states of the USA.
In the European Union, the countries most affected and that have declared themselves affected by desertification phenomena and the effects of drought are undoubtedly those of the Mediterranean basin: in addition to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta, but Hungary, Slovenia and Romania are not immune from similar phenomena. Italy, too, shows clear signs of degradation, which manifests itself with different characteristics in about 28% of the territory, mainly in the southern regions, where weather and climate conditions strongly contribute to the increase in degradation and thus to vulnerability to desertification due to the loss of habitat quality, soil erosion, land fragmentation, and the density of artificial cover, with significant deterioration also in northern areas, such as in Veneto, Piemonte, and Emilia Romagna.