Land Degradation Puts Earth’s Future at Risk, Report Warns

A recent scientific report reveals that unsustainable land use has significantly impacted seven of the nine planetary boundaries, jeopardizing Earth’s ability to sustain human life. The report, titled “Stepping Back from the Precipice: Transforming Land Management to Stay Within Planetary Boundaries,” examines land degradation through the lens of planetary boundaries and suggests urgent action is needed.

Alarmingly, six of these boundaries have already been exceeded, with ocean acidification and aerosol concentrations approaching their limits. The only boundary currently within its safe limit is the stratospheric ozone, protected by a 1989 treaty. The findings were presented at the 16th session of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Riyadh.

The planetary boundaries framework outlines nine critical thresholds for maintaining Earth’s stability, and land use is a key driver for seven of them. These include issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater systems, and the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Despite efforts, deforestation and climate change have reduced land’s ability to absorb CO2 by 20% over the last decade.

Unsustainable practices like deforestation, urbanization, and improper farming techniques are leading to unprecedented land degradation, threatening both the environment and human survival. This degradation exacerbates the climate and biodiversity crises, creating a vicious cycle. Conventional agriculture, excessive irrigation, and overuse of nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertilizers are major contributors to the problem.

The report also highlights the direct impact of land degradation on crop yields and nutritional quality, threatening vulnerable populations and increasing dependence on chemical inputs. The 1930s Dust Bowl serves as a historical example of the consequences of poor land management. Today, land degradation hotspots are most prominent in areas with intensive agriculture and high irrigation demands, such as South Asia, northern China, the US High Plains, California, and the Mediterranean.
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