Climate change and desertification
Human activities are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents or properties of the Earth’s surface that absorb or scatter radiant energy. Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years. Water resources are inextricably linked with climate. Annual average river run off and water availability are projected to increase by 10-40% at high latitudes and in some wet tropical areas, and decrease by 10-30% over some dry regions at mid-latitudes and in the dry tropics. Soils exposed to degradation as a result of poor land management could become infertile as a result of climate change.
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