Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersDefine desertification.
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 12 Flashcards — Desertification
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
Define desertification.
Answer
**Land degradation in arid/semi-arid regions** until productive land becomes desert-like — driven by climate and human pressure.
Question
Is desertification a desert spreading naturally?
Answer
No — it is **land degradation at the dryland margins** (e.g. the Sahel), caused by drought combined with human over-use.
Question
Name the physical causes of desertification.
Answer
**Drought, falling and erratic rainfall, and climate change** (higher temperatures drying the soil and killing vegetation).
Question
Name the human causes of desertification.
Answer
**Overgrazing, over-cultivation, deforestation, poor irrigation (salinisation), population pressure and conflict.**
Question
How does overgrazing cause desertification?
Answer
Too many animals strip vegetation faster than it regrows -> bare soil is compacted and eroded -> land becomes unusable.
Question
How does conflict accelerate desertification?
Answer
It diverts money and labour from land care, forces over-use of fragile land, and lets soil-conservation works decay.
Question
What is salinisation?
Answer
**Salt building up in the soil** (often from over-irrigation in dry heat), poisoning it so crops can no longer grow.
Question
Name a real desertification management scheme.
Answer
The **African Great Green Wall** (a belt of restored land across the Sahel) or **China's Loess Plateau** restoration.
Question
Why is climate change the hardest cause to manage?
Answer
It is a **global driver** — no single dryland country can control falling rainfall and rising temperatures.
Question
What two fronts does management work on?
Answer
The **causes** (grazing rules, tree planting, terraces, irrigation) and the **consequences** (food aid, new livelihoods, relocation).
Question
What does a top [10] desertification essay need?
Answer
**Named drylands/schemes**, a weighing of causes/strategies across scales, and a clear **judgement** (local manageable, global cause hard).
Question
Why do physical and human causes matter together?
Answer
A physical trigger (drought) weakens the land; a human accelerator (overgrazing) tips it over — they **compound** each other.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Desertification
Topic 9.3 hub
Managing extreme environments
More from Topic 9.3
All flashcards in this topic
Geography exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free