Land Degradation and Global Warming Essay

Our planet has experienced many changes in its climate from day 1 of creation up to the present. Today, we are faced with issues concerning global warming or the average increase of temperature of Earth’s atmosphere. What causes global warming leads researchers to identify natural conditions and manmade activities that cause this phenomenon (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). Land degradation is being eyed as one of the contributing factors of global warming. By definition, it is the loss of the land productivity that could be permanently or temporarily (Stocking & Murnagham, 2000). Literature Review Land degradation has been a problem for a long time. Researches are done in order to find out the most applicable solution to the affected areas. Michael Stocking and Niamh Murnaghan, in 2000, had published â€Å"Land Degradation: Guidelines for Field Assessment. † This publication consists of 8 chapters. The authors have focus on the following areas: farmers’ perspective on land degradation, definition and causes, effects and consequences to land users, soil loss, effects to production, indicators of land degradation, and the benefits of conservation. Agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency or CIDA, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the United Nations have promoted their awareness programs regarding land degradation and global warming. With the help of these agencies, people are gaining information about the effects of natural events and some human activities to the environment. Methodology This research is mainly based on information, researches, and readings from the Internet. I have chosen Web sites from reliable agencies such as U. S. EPA, CIDA, and the United Nations in order to acquire information about land degradation and global warming. Since the Internet is also known as the information superhighway, these agencies are successful in spreading their researches and making the public aware of the increasing effect of global warming to our environment. Data Analysis California is just one of the States that promotes rainforest conservation to lessen the effect of global warming by reducing emissions from deforestation and land degradation or REDD. REDD is an state-to-state sub-national agreement that aims to promote improved forest management practices and reforestation. The parties involved in this agreement have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on 18 November 2008. (Mongabay. com, 2008) In Canada, CIDA has led the promotion to reverse the effects of land degradation. CIDA works with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification or UNCCD. CIDA’s efforts to reverse the effects include: tree planting, sustainable irrigation, and environmental monitoring among others. (Land Degradation, CIDA, 2008) Results The effects of land degradation to Earth’s climate were not observed immediately. Now, the effects of global warming are increasingly being noticed. We have experienced El Nino and La Nina and heard news about the melting of ice in the Arctic. The processes done to counteract the effects could also take longer time before we could see the results. Discussion When the soil lost its productivity due to land degradation, trees and plants could not thrive on it. Add to this phenomenon the continuous illegal logging and deforestation activities could lead to decreased numbers of planted trees and plants. When the number of planted trees and plants continue to lessen, few trees and plants could absorb carbon dioxide, the gas that contributes to global warming due to excessive production. Carbon dioxide traps heat. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to an abnormal increase in the temperature of the atmosphere, thus the occurrence of global warming. The common causes of land degradation are overgrazing, deforestation, and pollution. There is a human factor in these causes. We are responsible to what is happening in our climate now. As we wait for the results of the present actions concerning global warming. It’s best to help in our own simple ways on how to prevent land degradation. One is to help promote the advocacies of the concerned agencies. Conclusion Global warming is a reality. The effects of it are tremendous and detrimental. Should global warming continue to worsen, Earth and all its tenants are in grave danger. Public awareness of the effects of global warming is deemed necessary. We are the ones who have triggered the ignition of global warming. We should also be the ones to trigger the solution. Works Cited â€Å"California Joins Effort to Fight Global Warming by Saving Rainforests. † Mongabay. com. 19 November 2008. 25 November 2008 â€Å"Climate Change. † Canadian International Development Agency. 24 October 2008. 27 November 2008 â€Å"Climate Change. † U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2008. 27 November 2008 â€Å"Land Degradation. † Canadian International Development Agency. 23 July 2008. 25 November 2008 Stocking, M. & Niamh Murnagham. â€Å"Land Degradation: Guidelines for Field Assessment. † PLEC Databases. 2000. 25 November 2008