Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. Land Degradation: Meaning, Definitions, Causes and impacts. Land degradation. For reasons outlined above, poor farmers are led to clear forest, cultivate steep slopes without conservation, overgraze rangelands, make unbalanced fertilizer applications, and the other causes noted above. Another word for degradation. 2 Land degradation affects people and ecosystems throughout the planet and is both affected by 3 climate change and contributes to it. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. What’s more, full degradation might mean that it is also unrecoverable. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Copyright 10. A decline to a lower condition, quality, or level. The report state that: "Climate change exacerbates land degradation, particularly in lowlying coastal areas, river deltas, drylands and in permafrost areas (high confidence). The degradation of land or of the environment is the process of its becoming damaged and poorer, for example because of the effects of pollution, industry, and modern agricultural methods . Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) has been defined by the Parties to the Convention as: A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within … Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires. Avoiding land degradation through sustainable land management can generate up to USD 1.4 trillion of economic benefits. Another problem is loss of soil caused by urbanization. 2. "[11] Additionally, it is claimed that 74% of the poor are directly affected by land degradation globally.[6]. Land Degradation As the land use section earlier in this chapter shows, demands on the land for economic development and pressures from a burgeoning population are leading to unprecedented land use change. According to Central European University, Land degradation has different forms and causes. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. Geology A general lowering of the earth's surface by erosion or weathering. A decline to a lower condition, quality, or level. In this report, land degradation is defined as a negative trend 4 in land condition, caused by direct or indirect human-induced processes including anthropogenic Land degradation means loss in the capacity of a given land to support the growth of useful plants on a sustained basis. Prohibited Content 3. It thus covers the various forms of soil degradation, adverse human impacts on water resources, deforestation, and lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands. Sensitivity and resilience are measures of the vulnerability of a landscape to degradation. Land degradation is caused by multiple forces, including extreme weather conditions, particularly drought. land degradation definition in the English Cobuild dictionary for learners, land degradation meaning explained, see also 'land up',land mass',land mine',common land', English vocabulary Land degradation is a negative change in the quality of land, usually induced by a mixture of natural and man-made causes. Definition: Land degradation is the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain—fed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest or woodlands resulting from natural processes, land uses or other human activities and habitation patterns such as land contamination, soil erosion and the destruction of the vegetation cover. The economic impact of land degradation is extremely severe in densely populated South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. 5. Policies and programmes to halt and reverse land degradation have long suffered from the absence of a clear overarching goal and quantitative, time-bound targets to guide action and make measurable progress. Land degradation is any reduction or loss in the biological or economic productive capacity of the land resource base. Naturally occurring, iron-sulphides underlie large areas of Australia’s low-lying coastal areas. Land degradation is a big loss to the economy as the land loses its production potential and gets converted into wastelands. Surface Runoff Surface runoff is a natural type of land erosion that occurs when excess water from storms and melting snow carries soil away. Soil degradation refers to negative changes in the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil, whereas vegetation degradation is the reduction in the number of species and the vegetational composition. 3. When these normally waterlogged soils are exposed to air by drainage or drought, the iron sulphides oxidise produc- Over the period 1961–2013, the annual area of drylands in drought has increased, on average by slightly more than 1% per year, with large inter-annual variability. Land Degradation • Definition: • Causes: Any change that decreases productivity of the land -Land clearing -Poor land management practices 2 3. Soils are a fundamental natural resource, and are the basis for all terrestrial life. Also, environmental degradation aspects such as deforestation and mining destroy the natural land cover. A definition of land degradation with examples. [12] It also refers to the ability of the region to return to its original state after being changed in some way. 4. This, together with air, water, and land pollution pose several atmospheric alteration threats. To fill this knowledge gap, soil degradation simply means the decline in soil quality which comes about due to aspects such as improper land use, agriculture, and pasture, urban or industrial purposes. The term land degradation involves both soil and vegetation degradation. This Atlas presents state-wise desertification and land degradation status maps depicting land use, process of degradation … The modern agricultural practises, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides has adversely degraded the natural quality and fertility of the cultivation land. Some information for local and regional scales is available and has been reviewed by Lal (1998). Land degradation is damage to land that makes it less economically useful and less biologically diverse. soil erosion, soil contamination, soil acidification, sheet erosion, silting, aridification, salinization, urbanization, etc. Policies and programmes to halt and reverse land degradation have long suffered from the absence of a clear overarching goal and quantitative, time-bound targets to guide action and make measurable progress. Land degradation means: 1. Improper agricultural practices, for instance, occur only under constraints such as the saturation of good lands under population pressure which leads settlers to cultivate too shallow or too steep soils, plough fallow land before it has recovered its fertility, or attempt to obtain multiple crops by irrigating unsuitable soils. Land degradation also has serious knock-on effects for humans, such as malnutrition, disease, forced migration, cultural damage, and even war. Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients. The decline in the overall quality of soil, water or vegetation condition commonly caused by human activities.. Land degradation Meaning… defined by the UNCCD as the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by human activities, including unsustainable farming, mining, overgrazing and clear-cutting of land, and by climate change. In land degradation, land that was once rich in nutrients and able to support diverse organisms becomes compromised. Johnson, P. Lamb, M. Saul, and A.E. "Land degradation" refers to a temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity ofthe land,2 or its potential for environmental management.3 "Land improvement" A standard guideline proposal, "Human Induced Land Degradation is Preventable", USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Economics of Land Degradation Initiative – Homepage, Safety of high-energy particle collision experiments, Existential risk from artificial intelligence, Self-Indication Assumption Doomsday argument rebuttal, Self-referencing doomsday argument rebuttal, List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events, List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Land_degradation&oldid=998245540, Human activities with impact on the environment, Articles with dead external links from February 2020, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Land that is degraded becomes less resilient than undegraded land, which can lead to even further degradation through shocks to the landscape. Natural processes play a part, but humans cause most of the damage. Avoiding soil degradation is crucial to our well-being. Defining Land Degradation and Improvement "Land'"includes not only the soil resource, but also the water, vegetation, landscape, and microclimatic components ofan ecosystem.! Plagiarism Prevention 4. Definition Of Environmental Degradation. Enrich your vocabulary with the English Definition dictionary It is one of the agricultural practice in which different crops are grown in same area following a rotation system which helps in replenishment of the soil. Natural hazards are the conditions of the physical environmentwhich lead to the existence of a high degradation hazard, forexample steep slopes as a hazard for water erosion. Crummey, J.S. But just what is the meaning of land pollution? When these normally waterlogged soils are exposed to air by drainage or drought, the iron sulphides oxidise produc- Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. However, there is no single internationally-approved definition of “degraded land”. Degradation is an important word in terms of environmentalism because it can be used to describe so many detrimental environmental conditions. also environmental degradation is the gradual destruction or reduction of the quality and quantity of human activities animals activities or natural means example water causes soil erosion, wind, etc. 0 generation 2030. Search land degradation and thousands of other words in English definition and synonym dictionary from Reverso. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. 1 Definition of land degradation Land degradation can be defined in several ways depending upon the subject that needs to be emphasized. There are four main ways of looking at land degradation and its impact on the environment around it: A problem with defining land degradation is that what one group of people might view as degradation, others might view as a benefit or opportunity. Continuous tillage of the soil definitely lead to land degradation and leaching which in turn leads to loss of soil nutrients. Land degradation is an important factor of internal displacement in many African and Asian countries.[10]. [technical] There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones. 5. 24 examples: Inevitably, the purchase of more livestock in the situation of decreasing land… Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) has been defined by the Parties to the Convention as: A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within … The act or process of degrading. 3. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. Development of industries for the economic growth of the country leads to excessive deforestation and utilization of land in such as way that it has lost its natural up gradation quality. Another word for degradation. [4], According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: "About a quarter of the Earth's ice-free land area is subject to human-induced degradation (medium confidence). en * We recognize that actions to reduce emissions, including from deforestation and forest degradation, and to increase removals by sinks in the land use, land use change, and forestry sector, including cooperation on tackling forest fires, can make a contribution to stabilizing greenhouse gases … Although there is a link between land degradation and conflict, we should be careful not to blame the victims. Often, the process of degradation is inextricably linked to loss of biodiversity and the impacts of climate change. Exposure of naked soil after harvesting by heavy equipment, This page was last edited on 4 January 2021, at 13:41. Changes in the characteristic of soil. Terminski, Bogumil, Towards Recognition and Protection of Forced Environmental Migrants in the Public International Law: Refugee or IDPs Umbrella (December 1, 2011). The state of being degraded; degeneration. Resilience is the ability of a landscape to absorb change, without significantly altering the relationship between the relative importance and numbers of individuals and species that compose the community. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. A form of land degradation associated with the coast is acid sulfate soils. 3. The resilience of a landscape can be increased or decreased through human interaction based upon different methods of land-use management. This can be caused by several factors. Action in the land's capacity to provide resources for human livelihoods. TOS 7. Define degradation. [1] Other kinds of land degradation are as water-logging, chemical contamination, acidification, salinity and alkalinity etc. Severe land degradation affects a significant portion of the Earth's arable lands, decreasing the wealth and economic development of nations. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and Johnson, D.L., S.H. Data on land degradation of global scale are scarce, but recent estimates suggest that 5-6. Desertification & Land Degradation. Deforestation is taking place at a faster rate due to increasing demands of timber, fuel and forest products which results into degradation of land resources. Degraded land is land that has lost some degree of its natural productivity due to human-caused processes. Definition Of Environmental Degradation. The growing population pressure, during 1980–1990, has led to decreases in the already small areas of agricultural land per person in six out of eight countries (14% for India and 21% for Pakistan). Ambrose, T.J. Bassett, M.L. Changes in climatic conditions because of unbalanced created in the environment. It affects the land’s topsoil, the vegetation that grows on it, and the nearby water sources. It negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services. Significant land degradation from seawater inundation, particularly in river deltas and on low-lying islands, is a potential hazard that was identified in a 2007 IPCC report. [2] Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires. This is frequent in semi-arid environments, where fuelwood shortages are often severe. Degraded land is land that has lost some degree of its natural productivity due to human-caused processes. This is particularly the case for populations living in rural areas where most of the poor people reside: estimates report that 80% of the extreme poor live in rural areas and 65% work in the agricultural sector. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Land definition is - the solid part of the surface of the earth; also : a corresponding part of a celestial body (such as the moon). Privacy Policy 8. Soil erosion is one of the factors responsible for lad degradation. Soil degradation is the decline in soil condition caused by its improper use or poor management, usually for agricultural, industrial or urban purposes. Content Filtrations 6. [1] It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Shifting ecological risk: increased vulnerability of the environment or people to destruction or crisis. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. CAUSES OF LAND DEGRADATION 1. (in the sense deposition from an office or rank as a punishment): from Old French, or from ecclesiastical Latin degradatio(n-) , from the verb degradare , from de- ‘down, away from’ + Latin gradus ‘step or grade’. environmental degradation Word Origin mid 16th cent. Soil that is contaminated becomes less productive and this reduces the value of land. In turn, unsustainable land use is driving land degradation. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. 2. Deserts, semi-arid lands, and dry woodlands also constitute a large potential source of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. ... Related to degradation: Land degradation. Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO has released out an inventory and monitoring of desertification of the entire country in 2016. Find more ways to say degradation, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. DEGRADATION Meaning: "a reduction in rank or dignity," from French dégradation (14c., Old French degradacion), noun of action… See definitions of degradation. For example, planting crops at a location with heavy rainfall and steep slopes would create scientific and environmental concern regarding the risk of soil erosion by water, yet farmers could view the location as a favourable one for high crop yields. Land degradation is a global challenge that affects everybody through food insecurity and higher food prices, through climate change and environmental hazards, and through the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Populations can be a benefit to the land and make it more productive than it is in its natural state. Pollution of water resources from the contamination of soil through which water sweeps into ground or runoff to the water bodies. Bowen, D.E. In proper terminological definition, forest degradation is the decline of the capacity of a forest to produce healthy ecosystem products and services such as the provision of timber and other resources, support to biodiversity, carbon storage and so on as a result of environmental and anthropogenic changes. This is measured through a base line in the form of pre-existing risk of crisis or destruction. and land degradation are also occurring. It is a significant factor in Afghanistan. 2. Isaacson, D.N. It results into reduced growth of vegetation, reduced diversity of plant species, excessive growth of unwanted plant species, soil erosion, and degradation of land due to cattle movement. Yet slow but continued degradation can lead to virtually in reversible losses of resources from the ecosystem and the land will degrade beyond self-repair or what we call destroyed or collapsed system. Avoiding land degradation through sustainable land management can generate up to USD 1.4 trillion of economic benefits. People living in already degraded or desertified areas are increasingly negatively affected by climate change (high confidence). 1997. The most important, according to the EEA (1998), is soil contamination. How to use land in a sentence. Degradation definition is - the act or process of degrading. It is a serious environmental problem. Land Pollution can simply be defined as the contamination or degradation of earth surface. Meanings of environmental terms. The highest numbers of people affected are in South and East Asia, the circum Sahara region including North Africa, and the Middle East including the Arabian Peninsula (low confidence). Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. Title: Land Degradation 1 Land Degradation 2 Definition. Underlying drivers of land degradation, says the report, are the high-consumption lifestyles in the most developed economies, combined with rising consumption in … Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients. In 2015, about 500 (380–620) million people lived within areas which experienced desertification between the year 1980s and 2000s. Learn more. 3. Following are some practises for controlling land degradation: It is & practice in which cultivated crops are sown in alternative strips to prevent water movement. 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