Essay Example on The authors of Reversal of Desertification The Role of Physical

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The authors of Reversal of Desertification The Role of Physical and Chemical Soil Properties claim that when given enough time and livestock are removed from a land a desertified land soil is very likely to regain its lost nutrients thereby enhancing the growth of new grasses that are perennial in nature To support their claim they conducted an observation whereby they analyzed the soil nutrients and water infiltration of a desertified site in southeastern Arizona At the end of the study they found evidence showing that though removal of livestock grazing alone cannot solve the issue of desertification proper management and removal of livestock on dry lands over time can reverse the problem thereby increasing the water infiltration rate in the case of the tested site it was increased by 24 as the trampling of livestock can compress the soil thus reducing the amount of water the soil holds This source answers part of the question of how can the problem of desertification be reversed or solved by carrying out a firsthand observation which included the testing and analyzation of a desertified land in the southeast of Arizona The goal of the authors was to refute the notion that such desertified environment cannot be reversible and provide an observation which will encourage managers of desertified lands by showing them evidence that with sufficient time and elimination of grazing by livestock the necessary soil properties nutrients and the ability of the soil to retain water that encourages growth can be improved

One limitation of this study is that only one land was tested so one can argue that the results derived might not be applicable to other sites Other than the noted limitation this source is credible as it involves first hand observation This source fits into the section of what can be done to stop the negative effect of desertification on the ecosystem It also serve as an evidence for effective ways of reversing desertification From this source I learnt that though the presence of livestock on a land is one of the cause of desertification it takes more than just the removal of them to fix the problem This source also supports my argument that human activity is the primary causes of desertification and its effect on the ecosystem Source 2 The author of Desertification The Next Dust Bowl claims that the most challenging problem facing the world now is the issue of drought which is caused by climate change but unfortunately the public still live in denial about the severity of this problem especially in the United States To support his claim he noted that only few policy makers are aware of the drastic effect that drought has on food production Thus only little or no focus is placed on dealing with the issue as people believe that especially in the United States the problem is more of an issue facing the developing world Furthermore to prove Americans are in denial the author noted that places like Nevada which is at a risk of having water shortage has been experiencing a massive population boom in recent years This article answers the questions of why the issue of desertification is significant and how the issue can be solved to decrease the effect it might have on humans The goal of the author is to draw the public attention to the severity of the problem that humans are facing and to call policy makers to make the issue a number one on their agenda as it is a global issue The source is relevant as it addresses an issue that is still ongoing

The author uses concrete evidence to back up his claim making it very credible This source will be used to support the significance of my topic It connects to the argument that the effect of desertification is real and harsh therefore it should be taken seriously as it can be detrimental to humanity on a global scale From this source i learnt that here in the United States people still believe that the drought is not here to stay therefore should not be taken seriously This article also listed some key policies that needs to be in place to withstand the prolonged drought Source 3 The authors of Global Desertification Drivers and Feedbacks claimed that although desertification is a global issue the difference in definition and debatable effect that it has on the ecosystem makes it a hard case to crack as there are different opinions about its actual effect on the ecosystem Solving the issue of desertification is a little complicated as there s no one agreed upon way to monitor and assess it To support the claim the authors gave some of the different definition of the term by different agencies and researchers and these definitions were different from that of the original context in which the word was used by its first users

Also they presented several counterarguments and evidence showing that desertification seems to have both a negative and positive effect on the ecosystem it just depends on what form of desertification is been addressed The article analyzed each of the desertification feedbacks to see what other factors speed up the process The history of the topic was discussed and how the definition of the word has changed over time was also addressed by this source Some of the authors are members part of University of Virginia Department of Environmental Sciences thus making them credible This article has been cited several times by other scholarly articles The goal of the authors was to address the different arguments that are present in the causes and outcomes of desertification Also by understanding the causes and feedbacks of the issue there will be an improvement to how the problem is dealt with thereby reducing the supposed consequences it might have on sustainability


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