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| THU 2 Sep 2010 |  |
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Running dry?
In their foreword to this new book, UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja and Adolf
Kloke-Lesch, Director-General of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation
and Development (BMZ), point out that for the decade-and-a-half following the 1992 Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro, “the climate and land community ... largely ignored one another.”
Drylands cover more than one third of the world’s terrestrial area. Land degradation in these
regions is a driver of climate change. Yet the linkages between climate change and dryland
degradation have so far scarcely featured in climate policy debate. This book gives the first
comprehensive overview of the state of research on the complex issues surrounding ‘climate
change and drylands’. It reveals systematically the various interrelations and feedback
mechanisms, with detailed information about the contribution of drylands to climate change,
recent and projected climatic changes and their impacts on drylands.
The authors also discuss how sustainable land management can be made part of the response
to climate change.The book compiles facts and figures, charts, the way forward, and highlights
knowledge gaps, uncertainties and research questions. It will provide a compendium for all
scientists, development practitioners and policymakers with an interest in the major global
environmental challenges: desertification and land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate
change.
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