According to a report by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, about 77,6% of the world’s land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period,

During the same time, drylands expanded by about 4,3 million square kilometers – an area almost one-third larger than India, the world’s seventh-largest country – and now cover 40,6% of all land on Earth (excluding Antarctica).

In recent decades, about 7,6% of the world’s land (an area larger than Canada) has been pushed to cross aridity thresholds, i.e. from non-arid land to dry land, or from less arid land classes to more arid classes.

Most of these areas have moved from wet landscapes to dry lands, with serious implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and the people who live there.

jrr/arm/mem/abm