UN urges early warning systems to combat desertification

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2005

NAIROBI (AFP) — More than 250 million people worldwide are directly affected by creeping desertification, the United Nations said, urging the creation of early warning systems to fight the expansion of deserts.

At a meeting here, senior officials from the 179 states party to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) heard a call for new research into climate change which is believed to be the chief cause of desertification.

The convention's secretary general Michel Jarraud urged the development of a data bank "to ensure systematic observation of land degradation in affected areas and to better understand and assess the processes and effects of drought and desertfication."

"Research into the causes and effects of climate variations and long-term...