Climate & environment

Dry
UN scientists: Earth's lands are drying up
The alarm: Has become permanently drier in recent decades

TT

Updated 2024-12-12 11.52 | Published 2024-12-09 14.13

People scoop up water from a hole dug in a dried up riverbed in Lusitu, Zambia in September this year. Photo: Themba Hadebe/AP/TT

Three-quarters of the Earth's land areas have become permanently drier in the past three decades, warn UN scientists.

Although some areas suffer from widespread flooding, the general trend is for the planet's land surfaces to dry, according to a new analysis by the United Nations Commission to Combat Desertification, UNCCD.

77.6 percent of the Earth's land areas became drier in the three decades to 2020, compared to the previous thirty-year period. Roughly 40 percent of the land surface (excluding Antarctica) can now be considered dry, an increase of 4.3 million square kilometers.

The drought is affecting almost every part of the world, leading to soil becoming less fertile, crops being lost, biodiversity being threatened and sandstorms and fires becoming more common.

In large part, the dehydration is due to global warming such as human emissions of greenhouse gases, according to the report. 

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The selection of Christmas herring threatens the ocean's ecosystem
WWF: The right choice can save the oceans

Christina Nordh

Published 2024-12-10 10.39

It matters a lot which herring you choose this Christmas, according to WWF. Photo: Björn Lindahl

The small fish can be found on most Christmas tables.

And of course it matters which variety you choose.

Above all to save the sea.

In the WWF's fish guide, the North Sea herring was given the green light. The WWF thus classifies that herring as sustainably fished, that it is scientifically recommended and that it is MSC-labeled to take into account the future of the oceans, writes the Marine Stewardship Council in a press release.

North Sea herring and herring from the Norwegian Sea, NVG herring, have been given a yellow light. This means that there are problems with the way the fishing is conducted and that we should therefore be extra careful when choosing that herring. It is recommended to eat that herring sparingly, a few times a year.

Overfishing is one of the biggest threats to our oceans, research shows. According to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, the NVG herring has been fished far more than the scientists recommend. It risks damaging the ecosystem in the oceans.

Tre fjärdedelar av jordens landområden har blivit permanent torrare de senaste tre årtiondena, varnar FN-forskare.

Även om vissa områden drabbas av omfattande översvämningar så är den generella trenden att planetens landytor torkar, enligt en ny analys från FN:s kommission för att bekämpa ökenutbredning, UNCCD.

77,6 procent av jordens landområden blev torrare de tre årtiondena fram till 2020, jämfört med föregående trettioårsperioden. Drygt 40 procent av landytan (exklusive Antarktis) är nu att betrakta som torr, en ökning med 4,3 miljoner kvadratkilometer.

Uttorkningen drabbar nästan alla delar av världen, och leder till att jord blir mindre bördig, att skördar går förlorade, att biologisk mångfald hotas och att sandstormar och bränder blir vanligare.

Till stor del beror uttorkningen på den globala uppvärmningen som människans utsläpp av växthusgaser, enligt rapporten.