World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

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17th June marks the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. This is a topic I have spent much time covering during my career, most notably in my two projects ‘Desertification in China‘ and ‘The Broken Land: Drought in India” which was a short film and photo-essay.

As outlined by the UN‘s website: “Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world‘s land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.” It continues, “Over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification, and about one billion people in over one hundred countries are at risk. These people include many of the world‘s poorest, most marginalized and politically weak citizens.”

The effects of drought, and especially desertification, are some of the most underreported environmental issues however their mechanics are essential to understanding the implications of climate change on a local and global level. This is part of the reason that the UN’s World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed, to raise awareness and bring attention to those communities being affected hardest by these issues.

In 2009, I set off on a 2-month journey across the breadth of China with the aim of documenting the implications of increasing desertification and its effects on the people and landscapes of the country. What I witnessed surprised and shocked me. Ecological migrants, abandoned cities and colossal sandstorms were just some of the phenomena I witnessed. I discovered parts of the country gripped in a battle against the slowly expanding deserts, forcing people to fly their lands and find new ways to a changing climate. This work has gone on to be featured in numerous international news outlets over the years which has hopefully contributed to the general awareness about this issue in China and the similar effects desertification has on many other countries across the world.

In the summer of 2016, parts of India experienced record drought as a result of consecutive failed monsoons. Global temperature records were broken each month in 2016 and India itself recorded its highest temperature of 51C. In conjunction with El Nino effects, this caused extreme environmental stresses in large parts of the country.

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I made the decision to travel to the city of Latur, in the state of Maharashtra, identified as the country’s worst affected area where up to 15,000 villages were believed to be without water. The images and video I created there focused on how communities lives were being affected by the drought, documenting the long and dangerous journeys people were taking to find water, the stresses placed on farmers and the physical environmental stresses on the region. To be there at that time and witness the devastating effects of drought had a deep effect on me. Drought doesn’t often affect us living in the major cities of the developed world, but for those in the tropics especially in developing nations, the effects are very real indeed.

As global temperatures continue to rise, the record drought of 2016 is predicted to be a recurring event in a country that is struggling to adapt to a warming world. Desertification is a continued threat and affects countries on all continents. Awareness about this issue is the first step towards effective action that mitigates the devastating impacts of water scarcity.

Support and share the news of this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought to contribute to the first step of raising awareness about the severity of this global issue.