Geography Book 10 Taming the Sand

Ch.1 What and where are deserts?

Deserts are 1) dry areas with low precipitation rate <250mm
2) barren land with little to no vegetation cover

Deserts can be classified into two major groups:

1) Tropical Deserts (Sahara Desert, Atacama Desert)
- located between Tropical of Capricorn and Cancer
- hot all year
2) Temperate Deserts (Takla Makan Desert, Gobi Desert)
- higher latitudes
- cold in winter

Characteristics
1) Low precipitation
- scarce, irregular, and unpredictable
- heavy rain over a short period
2) High evaporation rate
3) Large range of temperature
- clouds are rare > air temperature ranges
4) Surface material
- due to large range of temperature, rocks are broken into stony and sandy pieces
- soil is dry, thin, sandy, and salty (lack of organic matter, cannot support vegetation)
5) harsh for plants and animals
- strong winds with sand and dust
- oasis where ground water reaches the ground surface

Ch.2 How is China affected by desertification?

What is desertification?
Drylands have low precipitation and high evaporation rate. This only supports vegetation like
grass, shrubs scattered trees.
A decrease in vegetation cover + the soil loses moistures and organic matter (poor and dry)
= the land will be exposed to soil erosion by wind and water, decline in land fertility/ land
productivity

Definition: persistent process of land degradation of dryland

Geography Book 10 Taming the Sand

Physical and Human causes

Physical causes
1) Low precipitation and strong winds
Northern China is located in inland area. Whereas onshore monsoon cannot possibly bring
moisture to the land, offshore wind does not favor the formation of rain (cold and dry).
The frequent strong winds in winter and spring (offshore monsoon) facilitate soil erosion (as the
wind can blow away the soil particles, making the topsoil vulnerable to erosion).

2) Relief and poor soil

The relief of northern China is rugged; there are a lot of mountains and deserts. The edges of the
drylands have relatively poor soil that is sandy, salty, and dry. This results in sparse vegetation.

Human causes
The rapidly growing population lowers the land productivity. This puts pressure on the land
resources as people use the land intensely to satisfy their demand.

1) overgrazing
Herders rear more livestock to satisfy the demand. The number of livestock exceeds the carrying
capacity of the land. The livestock consumes the pastures faster than they can regrow.
This lowers the vegetation cover and the land becomes exposed and unprotected to soil erosion
from wind and water.
2) over-cultivation
Farmers grow crops in poor soil to produce more food. The soil loses moisture and its organic
matter which lowers land productivity as the crops cannot grow. The land is more prone to soil
erosion.
3) over-irrigation
As the precipitation is low, people intend to tap more groundwater. This lowers the water table;
the soil loses moisture and becomes dry. As the evaporation rate is high in drylands, dissolves salts
are drawn up to the topsoil. The soil becomes poor and salty, lowering the land productivity.
4) deforestation
People use wood for cooking and building material. Roots of trees and shrubs help to hold the soil
together. With an increase in population, people carry out large-scale deforestation, leaving the
soil unprotected and exposed to soil erosion. Land productivity is also affected as the soil becomes
poor and the land becomes barren.

5) human-induced climate change

Air temperature rises + low precipitation
- high evaporation rate; soil loses moisture and therefore becomes dry
Geography Book 10 Taming the Sand

- relative humidity decreases; frequent droughts

- land productivity and vegetation cover drops
- evapotranspiration is reduced due to the decline in vegetation
> vulnerable to soil erosion

Impact on human and the environment

1) economic losses
Land productivity drops and soil quality is lowered.
Pastureland and crop yields are reduced.
2) Relocation of people
people are forced to leave their homeland as the degraded land is no longer suitable to live in
3) Affecting the environment
desertified land cannot support the growth of vegetation (lowers)
land productivity drops
more desert-like environment
4) increase the frequency of sand and dust storms
desertification increases the supply of sand and dust which favors the formation of sand and dust
storms

Ch.3 How is China affected by sand and dust storms?

a) Loose sand and dust
In deserts and drylands, the land is dry and has little vegetation. The topsoil is loose and exposed.
b) Strong winds
easily lift up the loose sand and dust when they blow across a barren land

Causes
1) Plentiful supply of sand and dust
deserts + desertification of drylands
little vegetation cover, land is exposed
This provides sources of loose sand and dust
2) Strong winds
spring and winter monsoon (north and north-west monsoons) with high wind speed

Negative impacts
1) Disrupting transport and destroying structures
- reduce visibility which threatens the safety of transport
- bury and destroy structures
- leads to an economic loss
Geography Book 10 Taming the Sand

2) Affecting people’s health and their daily life

- air pollution
- cause discomfort to people’s eyes, skin irritations and respiratory problems
- carry bacteria and viruses which may spread diseases and contaminate drinking water
- disruption on outdoor activities, affecting the productivity of the society
3) Lowering farm production
- destroy young plants and bury fields which lower farm production
- the increasing amount of sand and dust reflects more sunlight and lower the amount of light
absorbed by plants, which affect plant growth
- causes injury to livestock
> reduce farm productivity

4) Intensifying desertification
- strong windstorms increase soil erosion
- soil loses moisture and nutrients
- land productivity drops, resulting in land degradation
- desertification increases the supply of sand and dust which favors the formation of sand and dust
storms

Ch.4 Easing desertification and sand and dust storms

Measures that are done to ease the problem
1) Increasing vegetation cover
- roots of trees and grass can help holding the soil together; less loose sand and dust
- a line of trees and form a windbreak or shelter belt: this protects the land behind by blocking the
strong winds and moving sand
Three-North Shelter Belt Project:
controls soil erosion from wind and water and sand movement
Beijing Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control Project:
reduce damage caused by strong windstorms by planting trees and grasses in Nei Mongol

- straw checkerboard: fix the sand so that we can plant vegetation in the future
retain moisture in the soil
slower wind speed

2) Tackling the problem in terms of human causes

a) Control grazing activities
- Returning Grazing land to Grassland Project:
prohibit grazing on seriously degraded grassland
Geography Book 10 Taming the Sand

seasonal grazing ban or rotational grazing on less degraded grassland

control the size of herds where herders have to keep a fixed number of livestock
Aim: prevent grass from being quickly consumed, increase organic matter in soil by increasing
vegetation cover, increase biodiversity
> restore land productivity

b) Control farming activities

- Grain for Green Project:
farmers are encouraged to give up on farming and plant trees or grass instead (subsidies like food
and money are provided)
Aim: helps reduce land pressure, restore land productivity of degraded land
prohibit farming in areas that are unfavorable for cultivation
Aim: prevents poor soil from getting infertile
Drip irrigation + grow drought-resistant crops
Aim: conserve water and prevent accumulation in soil, prevent soil erosion

3) Provide sources of income

- encourage farmers to move to towns and cities and work in factories and service sectors
Aim: release pressure on degraded dryland, restore vegetation and land productivity
- grow cash crops in reforested area
Aim: provides source of income and protect the reforested area
- agribusiness and factories are set up, jobs like processing farm products
- Improving infrastructure
Aim: promote ecotourism, farmers and herders can earn a living without damaging the
environment

4) Reduce reliance on fuelwood

- develop environmental-friendly energy like wind power and biogas
Aim: to protect trees and shrubs from being cut for fuelwood
- fuel-saving stoves
Aim: reduce the use of fuelwood needed for cooking