Just to raise awareness

TURNING INTO DESERT

As human society develops, more and more natural resources are used *****pply our needs. Under this procedure, the environment has changed rapidly for the worse. The most terrible result is desertification, a process by which land becomes increasingly dry until almost no vegetation grows on it, making it desert.

Desertification is one of the major concerns of ecologists nowadays. Lacking of water and misuse of land transform croplands, pastures and woodlands to dry highly degraded lands. Soil becomes so hard and poor that no plant can grow on. Especially in Africa, where it is always hot and dry, desertification turns out to be a mass killer. Being one of the poorest and least developed continents, the drainage systems in Africa are among the weakest. Trees gradually die because of the lack of water, causing a good con***ion for deserts to expand. Poor cultivation management is also a cause of desertification. People cut off native plants, which protect soil from degradation, and then plant imported grain, which is more economy. Ironically, these types of plant are not designed to live in a desert; they die very fast. Only native plants can keep the top nutrient rich soil. Without this protection, rich top soil fades away and plants cannot survive without that soil. That gives cre*** for desertification to expand

When desertification occurs, human faces a very tough situation. Without plants, people will die due to the lack of grain, which is the primary food of everyone. More and more people die of malnutrition. This actually is occurring in Africa, along the Me***erranean from Tunisia to Egypt, as well as in central and southwestern Asia from China to Syria. Coming along with desertification are diseases caused by poor living con***ion, such as, fever, malaria, AIDS and so on.

Without trees, the environment changes very fast. Days become hotter and nights become colder. Many animals disappear, since their favorite living con***ion no longer exists. Most of animals in The Red Book, the book that lists out endanger species on earth, such as lion, rhino, elephant, etcõ?Ư are facing that difficulty. They can only live in arid or semiarid areas, which is now becoming desert. In the next century, our children probably will not even know what elephants or lions look like. Desertification is a threat to all living things.

Fortunately, it is not too late to undo this. We have enough time, as long as we act right away. Many worldwide actions have taken place in order to lessen this tragedy. In 1977, the United Nations convened a Conference of Desertification to raise awareness of the problem and develop plans of action. Nevertheless, the actions only address the symptoms of desertification. The roots of this tragedy such as poverty and better soil management have never been discussed in the convention. In 1994, a new treaty, The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was signed, and then enacted 2 years later, in 1996. The United States has been a member of this organization since November 17 2000 (Status of Ratification). It tried to resolve poverty and improve resource management in the areas rather than attempting to hold back desert by planting trees across an entire region. Beside, UNCCD involve national and international nongovernmental organizations to get together in order to stop desertification. This brought much better result than the previous attempt did.

Although several attempts have been tried to solve this problem, they are not enough. The desert is still spreading. Everyone must work altogether to solve it. First, we must deal with poverty by giving the poor in these areas means *****rvive, such as providing foods and tools. Then they will not need to use the natural resources around them wastefully. We must also open classes that teach everybody about the needs of resource conservation, especially land and water reservation. Trees must be planted around high-risk areas to preserve top soil and to hold water. We need to give speeches to encourage an appreciation of the environment to each individual. As the result of this, everyone will try to do his or her best to end this disaster. With the cooperation of everyone, desertification will be defeated.

Fighting against desertification is never a one personõ?Ts job. When the entire above are set to work, this disaster may be solved. However, it is going to take a long time for the project to finish. A lot of money will be spent, and lot of work must be done to complete the project, but every thing has its price. This project does not only deal with desertification, but also raises the living standard and common knowledge of whom who have caused it. Once all the cause are solved, we wonõ?Tt have to worry about desertification anymore

Desertification is a disaster of the 20th Century. It does not only kill the environment, but also kills many people. To fight against desertification is to protect our life and our childrenõ?Ts life. We have to act and act right now before it goes too late.

Writen by Mickeynasty
(C) Don't use my work without giving me cre*** for it!!
P.S: With this essay, i won a 6 weeks scholarship for young scholar student in UC Davis this summer.

mickeynasty
exlhpstudent
Killing me softly with a noise-reduced gun

Ý tưởng bài viết hay -nhưng vẫn còn chút mistakes
có lẽ do đánh nhiều quá
When there's a will,there's a way
Được sửa chữa bởi - Knight Errant vào 26/05/2002 08:13