Satellite images have confirmed that the Earth's climate is changing unevenly

More than 40% of the Earth's ecosystems are arid

will increase.Such areas, for example in Africa and Australia, are savannas and deserts, where rare rainfall has long become the norm. The vegetation and wildlife there have already adapted to use scarce water resources. But they are also very vulnerable to further climate change.

Based on satellite images, dailyEarth Observers, researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen have studied the evolution of vegetation in arid regions. Their conclusion is unambiguous:

We are observing a clear trend in the development of droughtterritories: they are degrading. It is obvious that vegetation is increasingly suffering due to lack of water. The fact is that countries with this type of climate have fewer resources compared to rich ones. 

Rasmus Fensholt is a professor in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management.

Researchers analyzed satellite imagesvegetation and precipitation for 15 years: from 2000 to 2015. To compare the evolution of vegetation in arid regions of the world, the researchers removed precipitation amounts from the equation. In other words, they made a calculation that takes into account the fact that some regions have received more rain in recent decades, while others have received less.

This gives a more accurate picture of healthecosystems, as human influence becomes easier to identify: in other words, whether resource use is balanced or whether ecosystem resources are overexploited. 

The results show that in dry regions,especially in Africa and Asia, there is less vegetation per rainfall, unlike South America and Australia. This can happen for several reasons, such as rapid population growth. In Africa, there is a growing need to exploit land that is poorly suited for agriculture. This leads to a decrease in yield and an increase in the number of livestock, which will graze on already small areas of grass. 

On the other hand, there are arid but richcountries: they are better at coping with climate change. Apparently due to the fact that they have the resource to develop agriculture and supply watering to hard-to-reach places.

This means that climate change trends are disappointing for developing countries. This can lead to more and more people starving and forced to migrate.

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