Climate Change and Desertification
By: Moulana Aneesur Rahman Nadvi
Another important natural phenomenon has been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an with regard to the signs of doomsday in the form of a scientific prediction. This prophecy is with regards to rendering the whole planet earth into a barren land and a desert. It is clearly been stated in the Holy Qur’an that Allah will turn the whole planet earth into a huge and global desert. This prophecy has been explained in the following verse:
“Verily! We have made all that is on earth an adornment for it, in order that We may test them (mankind) as to which of them are best in deeds. And verily! We shall make all that is on it a bare dry soil (without any vegetation or trees, etc.) (Qur’an:18: 7-8)
Two words are important in these Qur’anic verses which are sa’eed and juruz. The linguistic meanings of these words are given below:
Juruz: A land which was not poured on by the rain. It is also said to a land whose vegetation has been eaten up.1
“Sa’eedan Juruza” means a land whose vegetation has been removed along with its roots.2
A number of traditions have also been narrated in the interpretation of the above verse which explain the above meanings of those words. These traditions are as follows:
Ibn Jarir narrates from Ibn Abbas that he said: He will destroy and exterminate everything.3
Ibn Abi Shaybah, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim narrate from Qatada that he said: sa’eed means sand and mountains which have no vegetation and planting.4
Ibn Abi Hatim narrates from al-Hasan that he said: Juruz means the barren.5
The literal meanings of the two words mentioned in the above verse and the hadiths reported in the commentary of the two words of the above verse shed ample light that the words ‘saeed’ and ‘juruz’ mean that the whole earth will be converted into a barren land wiping out completely its flora and fauna. In other words, the whole earth will be turned into a global desert.
Although nothing has been mentioned in Qur’an and hadith regarding the timing of the occurrence of this phenomenon and whether it is a sign of doomsday or not?, but since it is considered a threat of the Holy Qur’an, and as we have discussed earlier in details with examples in this book that the threats of Holy Qur’an are in fact miraculous predictions of Holy Qur’an regarding the terrible catastrophic occurrences that the humans will have to face in the future. Hence their occurrence is a certain event. What is more astonishing here is that all these Qur’anic threats are turning out to be factual events in the light of ongoing climate change on the earth. Among these threats of the Qur’an is the one which is being discussed here. This phenomenon – desertification – has started to occur due to the global warming and climate change, and has started to spread rapidly today.
Definition of Desertification
In scientific terminology, the process of fertile and green land turning into barren and arid land and then arid land turning into deserts is called desertification. There exist a number of definitions of the desertification. The most widely accepted of these is that of the Princeton University Dictionary which defines it as:
“The process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/ inappropriate agriculture”6
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has defined it as:
“Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.”7
The above definitions of desertification are very clear that in desertification, the land first loses its biodiversity and the fertile and green land turns into arid and barren one and gradually this arid land turns into desert. All these definitions of desertification are in complete conformity with the phenomena mentioned in the above hadiths concerning the commentary of the above Qur’anic verses (Kahaf: 7-8), in which various stages of the desertification have been depicted eloquently. It has been mentioned in the hadith of Qatada that all the plants will be wiped out of the planet earth. The hadith of Ibn Abbas clearly states that all the flora and fauna will come to end on the earth. The hadith of Hasan states that the earth will be turned into a barren one. The hadith of Qatada further states that the whole earth will be turned into a sea of sand and there won’t be anything on earth except deserts and mountains.
The Seriousness of Desertification
Today the problem of desertification has taken the form of a global and universal threat to the planet and the mankind. The pace at which desertification is taking place on the planet earth, Scientists believe that it will soon engulf the entire planet. It is said that the planet earth is passing through fastest desertification in its history, i.e., the planet never faced desertification on such a rate and scale. There is a looming threat to each and every part of the world today. The fertile areas of earth are turning into arid lands and the arid land is turning into desert at an unprecedented rate.
Desertification is also called “the cancer of earth,” because as the cancer leads to the death of a man, in the same fashion desertification leads to the death of land by eliminating its fertility completely forever. Thus, annually 10-20 million hectares of arable land is turning into barren and wasteland globally due to desertification. The number of people affected by desertification is in millions currently and it is expected to reach billions with the increase in the intensity of global warming and desertification soon.
Desertification in Asia
Each continent of the earth except Antarctica (which is completely covered with ice) is facing the threat of desertification, including Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America and Europe. The most vulnerable county in Asia to the threat of desertification is China, where the rate of desertification is on rise alarmingly. For example, in China between 1950 and 1975, an average area of 600 square miles (1560 square kilometers) turned into desert annually. This average has increased to 1,400 square miles (3,500 square kilometers) annually since 2000. According to Chinese scientists, 24 thousand villages have been evacuated during the past 5 decades in northern and western China. In addition to China, almost all of the central Asian countries are facing threats from desertification. Among them are Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Iran. Kazakhstan has lost more than 50% of its fertile land to desertification. 80% of Pakistan and Afghanistan faces desertification today. A quarter of India is undergoing desertification while 32 percent more is facing degradation that has affected its productivity critically affecting the livelihood and food security of millions across the country.8 The following table shows the statistics of threat of desertification to the arid region in the Asian countries.9
Africa and Desertification
Currently African continent is the most vulnerable to the desertification. Two-thirds of the African continent consists of desert and dry lands. 74% of this area is facing desertification either severely or moderately.10 The deserts of central Africa are spreading rapidly towards north. As a result, the human populations are shrinking towards the northern regions of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria on the one hand, and on the other, these deserts are expanding towards Senegal, Mauritania, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia in the south of African continent. According to a study, this Saharan desert is expanding with a speed of 30 miles (75 kilometer) yearly in the south. This is resulting in the desertification of an area of 1355 square miles (3500 square kilometers) annually in Nigeria alone. According to a UN report, 35% area of Ghana, 70% area of Ethiopia, 80% area of Kenya, 78% of Swazi Land, 30% of Rwanda, Brunei, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Lesotho are facing desertification.11 According to a study about 70% of the land of African continent has degraded due desertification. The number of people affected is 48.5 crores (50 million). This constitutes 60% of the total population of Africa.12 According to another study, Africa will be capable to feed only 25% of its population by 2025 CE.13 Table 2 shows the statistics of desertification in African continent.14
Desertification in North and South America
In North America, there is around 450 million (45 crore) hectare arid land in Canada, USA and Mexico. 90% of this land is facing threats from desertification either severely or moderately. The statistics of desertification in North America are given in the table 3.15
Similarly South America is also facing desertification. Scientists have no categorical figures of desertification in South America. But the available data about this continent tells the horrifying story. 28% of Latin America is considered arid, of which 75% is facing desertification severely or moderately. Desertification is spreading rapidly in Brazil and Mexico. In Mexico, about 7 lakh people are becoming unemployed annually due to desertification and are being compelled to migrate.16 More than half of Argentina and Paraguay is undergoing desertification. Similarly, countries like Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Uruguay and Caribbean Islands are facing desertification to a greater extent.17 The statistics of desertification in South America are given in the following table.18
Desertification in Australia
The statistics of desertification in Australia are horrifying. Desertification has been declared as a national disaster in Australia. About 70% (50 lakh square kilometers) of the Australian land is considered arid or semi-arid. 40% (2 lakh square km) of this land is facing severe threats from desertification.19 The statistics of desertification in Australia are given below.
Desertification in Europe
Europe which was unfamiliar to the phenomenon of desert and desertification till now and was considered a safe heaven and where fertility and greenery flourished everywhere, desertification has knocked its doors too. The deserts of North Africa have entered the Southern Europe rapidly affecting countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Malta and Turkey significantly. On the other side the deserts of Central Asia have entered Europe from south western direction and have started to spread rapidly affecting countries like Latvia, Belarus, Hungary, Romania and Russia.20
In a nutshell, today the whole planet earth is facing severe threats from desertification. All these threats have been summarized by a researcher in the following words:
“Desertification claims a Nebraska-sized (78 thousand square miles/ 2 lakh square kilometers) area of productive capacity each year globally (This area is 10 thousand square kilometers larger than the total area of Indian state of Karnataka) .… Half the world’s tropical and temperate forests are now gone. The rate of deforestation in the tropics continues at about an acre a second, and has for decades. Half the planet’s wetlands are gone. An estimated 90 percent of the large predator fish are gone, and 75 percent of marine fisheries are now overfished or fished to capacity. Almost half of the corals are gone or are seriously threatened. Species are disappearing at rates about 1,000 times faster than normal. The planet has not seen such a spasm of extinction in 65 million years, since the dinosaurs disappeared.”21
Desertification of Oceans
Another significant and shocking revelation in this regard is that due to ongoing global warming not only the continental areas of the earth are getting affected by desertification but the desertification is also taking place rapidly on the oceanic floor wiping out flora and fauna of the oceans. According to scientists, its reason could be attributed to the increase in the temperature of oceans.
In fact the oceanic deserts surround 20% of the tropical regions of planet earth on both side of equator where the plant and animal life is absent. An increase of 15% (15 lakh square mile/ 66 lakh square kilometers) in these underwater deserts has been observed between 1998 and 2007. The oceanic temperature is increasing by 0.02 – 0.04 degrees annually in these regions. According to the research, these underwater deserts will expand with the increase in global temperature in future. Hence a complete desertification of both continental and oceanic lands is imminent. The Qur’anic verse
“And verily! We shall make all that is on it a bare dry soil (without any vegetation or trees, etc.). (Qur’an: 18: 7-8)” clearly indicates towards this global disaster that the whole planet earth – including continental and oceanic land – will be converted into sand and desert.
Causes of Desertification
A number of causes are considered responsible for desertification. Its prime cause is CO2 induced global warming. More intensity is added to it due to other phenomena that occur due to climate change. Among these is the water shortage due to which the fertile land coverts into dry and arid land and the arid land converts into deserts. Another cause of desertification is the acid rain which increases the acidity of fertile land, and consequently the fertile land loses its fertility in a very short period. Hence the forests which are being destroyed due to the increase in global warming, their regrowth has been slowed down due to acid rain. Acid rain is not only affecting fertility of land, but it is affecting the chemical composition of lakes and rivers badly too. The areas affected by these rivers will lose their productivity in a very short period.22
Similarly, desertification is creating a positive feedback towards climate change, i.e., desertification will increase global warming and global warming will in turn increase desertification and this loop will go on forever. As the desertification increases on planet earth, it will wipe out forest and trees. This will lead to a decrease of oxygen and an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere on the one hand, and on the other, it will lead to the release of carbon buried in the dry lands in large scale. These two causes will further increase forest fires … leading to more atmospheric heat affecting the natural resources of the planet earth greatly. All this will further lead to more desertification further destroying earth’s natural resources. Therefore, according to a report by WWF between 1970 and 1995, the earth has lost its 30% of natural resources due to events of global warming and climate change.
Due to this interrelationship between climate change and desertification, scientists have now largely accepted the fact that climate change and desertification are actually two sides of the same coin. Each one of them is contributing in the spread of the other phenomenon. The United Nations issued the following statement on the day to combat desertification in the year 2007:
“The theme of this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, “Desertification and Climate Change — One Global Challenge”, reminds us that climate change and desertification interact with each other at a variety of levels. They are two major manifestations of the same problem.” 23
It is clear from the above statement that the cycle of global warming and desertification will never come to an end. As a result, the whole planet will going to be engulfed by desertification in future turning it into a global desert which has been declared categorically and clearly in the above verse of the Holy Qur’an in the wordings: “And verily! We shall make all that is on it a bare dry soil (without any vegetation or trees, etc.).” (Qur’an: 18: 7-8) This prophecy of the Holy Qur’an can also be understood from the point that the extent of desertification on planet earth that occurred so far was the result of an increase in the average temperature of planet earth by 0.8 degrees. While according to a careful estimate of UN, the average temperature of planet earth may increase by 8 to 10 degrees towards the end of this century. Hence it could be assessed what terrible shape the desertification would take at that time! The above prediction of Holy Qur’an could also be understood in the light of a new statement by the University of UN which has been published on a blog, which is as follows:
Desertification Is the End of Being: A new study by United Nations University suggests climate change is making desertification [more] “the greatest environmental challenge of our times”. They report that some 50 million people may be displaced within the next 10 years as a result of desertification [search], and that ultimately some one-third of the Planet’s population is threatened by expanding deserts. The process of desertification is the ultimate end result of most poor environmental stewardship, a synthesis of climate change and land clearing that quite literally makes the Earth a burning hell.24
It should be borne in mind that the term of desertification was first coined in 1950. This indicates that this phenomenon came into existence in the second half of the twentieth century. This phenomenon assuming such a crisis on global scale in such a short period of time shows both the severity of the problem as well as the pace of looming threat to the entire planet earth in the near future.
Footnotes:
1 – Tahzeebul Lugha, Azhari, V. 3, P. 466.
2 -Al Mufradaat Fi Ghareebil Qur’an, Raghib Asfahani, P. 91.
3 – Tafseer Shoukani, Imam Shoukani, Kahaf 1.
4 – Ibid.
5 – Ibid.
6 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification
7 – http://www.unccd.int/en/about-the-convention/Pages/Text-Part-I.aspx
8 – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2660560/Desertification-land-degradation-affects-quarter-Indias-land.html
9 – Desertification of Arid Lands, H. E. Dregne, http://www.ciesin.org/docs/002-193/002-193.html
10 – http://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/89273/current-dynamics-of-desertification-in-africa-facts-and-sta.h
11 – ibid.
12 – ibid.
13 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification#cite_ref-5
14 – Desertification of Arid Lands, H. E. Dregne.
15 – ibid.
16 – Summary from: http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update61.htm
17 – http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/09/latin-america-desertification-ndash-an-invisible-cancer/
18 – Desertification of Arid Lands, H.E. Dregne.
19 – Desertification in Australia: An Eye to Grass Roots and Landscapes, John a. Ludwig and David J. Tongway, 1995.
20 – Desertification in Europe, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, 2007.
21 – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/21/network
22 – http://www.epa.gov/region1/eco/acidrain/intro.html
23 – http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11030.doc.htm
24 – http://www.climateark.org/blog/2007/06/desertification_warning.asp