Desertification
The Third Pole
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands involving loss of biological productivity caused by natural processes or induced by human activities
The Third Pole
or the Himalayan region spans an area of more than 4.3 million square kilometres
in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The region stores more snow and ice than anywhere else in the world outside the polar regions, giving its name: ’The Third Pole‘.
The region contains the world’s highest mountains, including all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres,
is the source of 10 major rivers, and forms a formidable global ecological buffer.
Climate change is now a key concern in the Himalaya Region.
Mountain set-ups are especially sensitive to climate change and the Third Pole area is inhabited by a populace most susceptible to these global alterations. Modifications in the river systems have had a direct impact on the contentment of a multitude of people. The rate of warming in the Third Pole is considerable more than the worldly average, and the rate is increased at an elevated altitude, indicating a more susceptibility of the cryosphere environment to climate change.
Jourmet is one of the Chang Pa Nomads who lives in this area the whole year. They live so close to nature that they experience the climate change immediately. Their whole existence depends on the circle of seasons.
Climate change projections suggest that all areas of South Asia are likely to warm by at least 1 °C by turn of the century, while in some areas the warming could be as much as 3.5 to 4 °C. The lives and livelihoods of the Third Pole region population is challenged because of climate change, and the security and development of the region impacted by the Third Pole is in peril, which will have ramifications for the entire continent and globally as well. However, there is less awareness of this risk, and its potential fall-outs, besides the impacted region; a special mission is required to increase attention about the fragility of the mountain social-ecological set-up.
The Third Pole region has enormous socioeconomic and cultural diversity; it is home to many different ethnic communities speaking more than 600 languages and many more dialects. It is endowed with rich natural resources and contains all or part of four global biodiversity hotspots. The mountain resources provide a wide range of ecosystem services and the basis for the livelihoods to the 210 million people living in the region, as well as indirectly to the 1.3 billion people --one fifth of the worlds’ population -- living in the downstream river basins.
More than 3 billion people benefit from the food and energy produced in these river basins that have their origin in the mountains.
Desertification
Brandenburg
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands involving loss of biological productivity caused by natural processes or induced by human activities.
This is a ongoing Project in Germany which i started last Year during the Pandemic.
Brandenburg is the fifth largest German state, and it has a land surface area of 29,640 km2, of which 45% is agricultural land, most of which (75%) is arable land. Brandenburg surrounds the German capital Berlin and comprises 14 districts. The state’s mineral soils are developed on glaciofluvial, periglacial and glacial deposits, aeolian deposits and river sand. Almost two-thirds of the state’s territory, mainly with sandy and sandy loamy soil, has a water holding capacity lower than 140mm (Table 1). Peat soils are excluded from crop cultivation by decree
Agricultural practice is dominated by large farm enterprises with an average size of 238 ha, which is four times the German average. Mechanization is high, and the labor force is only 1.7 persons per 100ha on average.
Climate change is now a key concern in Germany.
Water is the most limiting factor for agricultural yields in Brandenburg
The average rainfall in Brandenburg is 554 mm year, which is low compared to the German average of 800 mm year. This limits the yield for rain-fed agriculture. Irrigation is currently used on only 2% of the cropland area (Statistical Office Brandenburg, 2012). Due to increasing world market prices for agricultural commodities and concerns about increasing water stress related to climate change, its is expected that irrigation will become more important in the near future.
