DESERTIFICATION

noun (Environment) The changing of fertile land into desert or arid waste, especially as a long-term result of human activity. Also sometimes known as desertization. Etymology: Formed by adding the process suffix -ification to desert. History and Usage: The process of desertification was recognized as a world environmental problem as long ago as the mid seventies, but it was not until the late eighties that the word became widely known as a result of the green movement and increased awareness of environmental issues generally. The problem is exacerbated by destruction of forests (deforestation), erosion of the topsoil, and global warming (which involves formerly fertile areas in drought). As the process takes place, the affected land is first termed arid, then desertified. Some 6.9 million sq. km. of Africa...were under direct threat of desertification in 1985, according to UN estimates. The Annual Register 1985 (1986), p. 395 The very processes of extracting Third World resources result in environmental disasters--deforestation, massive soil-erosion and desertification. New Internationalist May 1987, p. 13