Climate change and human activities have accelerated desertification. “The sand and wind make life tough here.”, “We’ll see what she wants to do when she finishes school.”. That is a huge topic no doubt, but i feel as if the media has neglected many other occurrences of … In the 1990s China’s deserts were expanding by 3,500 square kilometers every year, according to Luo Bin, deputy director of the National Bureau to Combat Desertification. An afforestation project to prevent the desert from expanding and to reduce the impacts of sand and dust storms on nearby residents was launched in Kekeya in 1986 and completed in 2015. China's expanding deserts on a collision course with its cities By Josh Haner , Edward Wong , Derek Watkins and Jeremy White Updated October 24, 2016 — 3.56pm first published at 2.19pm One recent estimate said China had 54,400km2 more desert than what existed in 1975 — about the size of Croatia. Only about 15% of the trees planted since 1949 have survived. “The sand and wind make life tough here. Many of the oases in the Tengger are drying up. He has his corn and wheat fields, plus income from running the tourist park. Mr. Guo took saplings that the government had left behind after it completed a tree planting operation. Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It has messed up everything.”. Residents who live on the edge of the deserts try to limit the steady march of the sand. In the Tengger Desert, China — This desert, called the Tengger, lies on the southern edge of the massive Gobi Desert, not far from major cities like Beijing. To get them to move and sell off their herd of more than 70 sheep, 30 cows and eight camels, the officials have offered an annual subsidy equivalent to $1,500 for each of her parents and $1,200 for a grandmother who lives with them. China's Gobi Desert. « Germany on the Threshold of an Unprecedented Radicalization, Lagarde – Wants to Raise Retirement Age & Taxes ». An afforestation project to prevent the desert from expanding and to reduce the impacts of sand and dust storms on nearby residents was launched in Kekeya in 1986 and completed in 2015. As the Tengger expands, it is merging with two other deserts to form a vast sea of sand that could become uninhabitable. Nearly 27% of China’s land area is comprised of deserts. For years, China’s deserts spread at an annual rate of more than 1,300 square miles. Ms. Huang, 38, grows corn and tomatoes, some in greenhouse structures. The Tengger is growing. It is estimated that one-third of the earth is exposed to desertification, affecting millions of people worldwide. Oct. 24, 2016. But the oasis, which is the main attraction, is shrinking. Many villages have been lost. Around 200 lakes dried up in about 20 years.Then in 2010, the staff of the Tibetan Sustainable Environmental Resources for Increased Economic Growth (TSERING) program taught villagers how … He herds the sheep toward the old family home, where he can give the animals water. Mengkebuyin, 42, and his wife, Mandula, 41, grow corn and sunflowers, but their 200 sheep provide most of their income: They sell the meat to a hotel restaurant in a nearby city. “The soil is not as soft or good as it was before,” she said. People on the edges of the country’s vast seas of sand are being displaced by climate change. Beijing Shanghai Gobi Desert China Map Dalian Chengdu Ancient China Interesting History We The People And they can pay to eat in the round Mongolian tents, called gers. Photographs and drone videos by Josh Haner. Following the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Communist State attempted to alter nature. Guo Kaiming, 40, a farmer who also manages a tourist park at the edge of the Tengger Desert, planted rows of trees by a new cross-desert highway in June. China now has the second largest desert in the world – the Taklimakan desert. The Tengger is growing. Edited by Hannah Fairfield and Jodi Rudoren. Only about 15% of the trees planted since 1949 have survived. Dust storms have increased in frequency in the past 20 years, causing further damage to China's agriculture economy. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change (particularly the current global warming) and overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity. Visitors also rent camels and dune buggies. This project, also known as the Three-North Shelter Forest Programme, is being carried out in the North, Northeast and Northwest of China. But the oasis, which is the main attraction, is shrinking. “The wind is fierce. The Gobi Desert is expanding at an alarming rate through desertification, most rapidly on the southern edge into China, which is seeing 3,600 km 2 (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year. Around 27% of China is covered in desert. He would like to move to better pasture, but the government will not allow it. They roam by his old family home, near the shores of a lake that dried up years ago. But China’s densely populated areas are pushing toward the deserts, as the deserts grow toward the cities. He said he was not ready to join the climate refugees. Mengkebuyin and his wife maintain the old home but do not stay for long periods. There are now dunes forming just 44 miles from Beijing, and some estimates put the Gobi’s crawl south toward the capital at a … In the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur … Many people in this area are from families that fled Minqin, at the western end of the Tengger Desert, during China’s Great Famine from 1958 to 1962, when tens of millions died. A Remote Pacific Nation, Threatened by Rising Seas, Climate Change Claims a Lake, and an Identity. Last year, the company that operates the park paid students to build seven giant sand sculptures as its centerpiece. The New York Times.-deserts.html The Tengger Desert lies on the southern edge of the massive Gobi Desert, not far from major cities like Beijing. According to statistics released by the State Forestry Administration, China has 2.6 million square km of desert that accounts for 27 percent of the country’s total land area. “We dread the sandstorms,” Ms. Du said. 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