Warning: the desert is expanding
One of the main catalysts for climate change in my home country China is the expansion of deserts. According to report of the Chinese government, China has increasingly had issues with desertification of what was once profitable land in recent years. There are many reasons why the deserts in northern and northwestern China have become larger. But generally we can combine all the reasons into two major reasons, the non-human reason and the human reason.
For the non-human reason, since northern China is in a dry and mid-dry environment, the stability of the ecosystem is very bad. Furthermore, the soil in that area is sandy. The top layer of soil is loose and the vegetation is fragile. So it has a low ability to protect itself from wind erosion. When the weather becomes dry, the surface of the sandy land becomes more active. Especially when there is wind, the circumstance becomes worse. The wind blows the surface of the land and carries sand from far away. The result of these activities is the expansion of the desert and the sparseness of vegetation, which causes more dust storms. The principle behind this result is quite obvious. The wind blows over the sandy land and takes away the surface soil, which mostly is made of sand. Then the sand carried by wind travels to other places and gathers for a certain amount of time. Eventually the land is invaded and occupied by sand and becomes desert after some time. Of course, the plants cannot survive in such a dry and changing environment. They become fewer and fewer, which also makes the desert’s formation faster.
For the human reason, because of the population boom, it is very difficult for the fragile ecosystem to support the huge demand of food, and water. Although the government creates and carries out a lot of policies such as the forbidden of cutting down trees and the prohibition against of depasturing in certain areas, people just do things in their own way. They burn the forests to get more land. They feed animals on grassland without limitation. When the land becomes sandy and not arable, they just give it up and choose another place. Finally, all the land becomes sandy which causes dust storms when the weather is windy. A small desert is formed in that way and these small deserts join together to become one huge desert. A very ironic phenomenon is that the government has planted thousands of trees. But a few years later people in that area cut them down in order to get firewood. At last, all the residents have to move to other places due to the expansion of desert.
As Raven pointed out in his book, “all humans need Earth’s flora, fauna, and microorganism for sustenance, materials, energy, and even the air they breathe”, we must learn to protect it and show our appreciation to it. However, some people still haven’t realized the importance of protecting the environment while they are getting the benefits from nature. They do whatever they want to do to the environment without considering the future and their descendants. That’s why some environmental problems still cannot be solved today. The warnings from nature have come for a long time. It’s high time for us to think together to solve the problems.
One of the main catalysts for climate change in my home country China is the expansion of deserts. According to report of the Chinese government, China has increasingly had issues with desertification of what was once profitable land in recent years. There are many reasons why the deserts in northern and northwestern China have become larger. But generally we can combine all the reasons into two major reasons, the non-human reason and the human reason.
For the non-human reason, since northern China is in a dry and mid-dry environment, the stability of the ecosystem is very bad. Furthermore, the soil in that area is sandy. The top layer of soil is loose and the vegetation is fragile. So it has a low ability to protect itself from wind erosion. When the weather becomes dry, the surface of the sandy land becomes more active. Especially when there is wind, the circumstance becomes worse. The wind blows the surface of the land and carries sand from far away. The result of these activities is the expansion of the desert and the sparseness of vegetation, which causes more dust storms. The principle behind this result is quite obvious. The wind blows over the sandy land and takes away the surface soil, which mostly is made of sand. Then the sand carried by wind travels to other places and gathers for a certain amount of time. Eventually the land is invaded and occupied by sand and becomes desert after some time. Of course, the plants cannot survive in such a dry and changing environment. They become fewer and fewer, which also makes the desert’s formation faster.
For the human reason, because of the population boom, it is very difficult for the fragile ecosystem to support the huge demand of food, and water. Although the government creates and carries out a lot of policies such as the forbidden of cutting down trees and the prohibition against of depasturing in certain areas, people just do things in their own way. They burn the forests to get more land. They feed animals on grassland without limitation. When the land becomes sandy and not arable, they just give it up and choose another place. Finally, all the land becomes sandy which causes dust storms when the weather is windy. A small desert is formed in that way and these small deserts join together to become one huge desert. A very ironic phenomenon is that the government has planted thousands of trees. But a few years later people in that area cut them down in order to get firewood. At last, all the residents have to move to other places due to the expansion of desert.
As Raven pointed out in his book, “all humans need Earth’s flora, fauna, and microorganism for sustenance, materials, energy, and even the air they breathe”, we must learn to protect it and show our appreciation to it. However, some people still haven’t realized the importance of protecting the environment while they are getting the benefits from nature. They do whatever they want to do to the environment without considering the future and their descendants. That’s why some environmental problems still cannot be solved today. The warnings from nature have come for a long time. It’s high time for us to think together to solve the problems.
China's desert is expanding: government. (2007, December 4). Retrieved March 10, 2008, from
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Chinas_desert_is_expanding%20government_999.html
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Chinas_desert_is_expanding%20government_999.html
Huang, S.j. (2002, February 26). Why China's sandy land becomes more and more. Retrieved March 10,2008,from
http://www.10thnpc.org.cn/chinese/huanjing/109118.htm
http://www.10thnpc.org.cn/chinese/huanjing/109118.htm
Raven, p. H. (1997, p.1). Nature and human society: The quest for a sustainable world. Washington,D.C:National Academy press
Science and Technology Daily News.(2002, January 28). Sand storm: the wolf from northern. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from
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