Deserts are one of the widespread landforms on Earth, covering 20% of the total land area globally, mainly distributed across regions like Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
Among them, the Sahara Desert in northern Africa covers an area of 9.32 million square kilometers, about one-third of Africa's total area, making it one of the world's largest deserts. Its area exceeds that of 99% of countries globally.
On a global scale, countries including Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Australia have significant proportions of desert areas.
For instance, Egypt's desert occupies 95% of its land area, while Saudi Arabia's desert covers nearly 98%.
In China, deserts are widespread, accounting for about 6.1% of the country's land area, mainly found in the arid regions of northwest China, such as Xinjiang and Qinghai, including the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts.
Traditionally, deserts are considered areas where life cannot thrive, posing threats to farmland and oases, thereby limiting human habitation. The ancient civilization of Loulan in the Western Regions is an example of a civilization that perished due to desert expansion.
The resulting sandstorms are meteorological disasters, prompting an urgent need for desert control and elimination.
However, in reality, controlling deserts is extremely challenging, and eradicating them is nearly an impossible task.
The formation of deserts is a result of Earth's climate change. For example, deserts like the Sahara and Taklamakan were once grasslands and oases, but changes in Earth's climate led to the aridification of these regions.
As long as the Sahara remains under the influence of dry subtropical high-pressure systems, warm and humid air currents from the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean cannot enter the Taklamakan, thereby sustaining the desert's existence.
In the face of Earth's vastness, human power is minuscule and cannot alter large-scale climate changes, thus unable to eliminate naturally formed deserts.
Although some desert greening projects have been implemented, such as afforestation and the construction of green belts, these measures can only halt desert expansion and have no substantial impact on global climate.
To transform deserts back into grasslands or lakes, we must await the next cycle of Earth's climate.
However, apart from deserts formed by natural climate changes, deserts where vegetation degradation is caused by human activities can be transformed into grasslands or even forests.
For example, the Maowusu Desert in Inner Mongolia and the Horqin Desert in northeast China lie in humid and semi-humid climatic zones, with adequate annual precipitation for vegetation growth, thus offering hope for control and elimination.
After more than 60 years of control measures, the vegetation coverage of the Maowusu Desert has reached 80%, and forest coverage has reached 30%, making the eradication of the desert imminent.
Humans cannot and should not attempt to conquer naturally formed deserts.
Deserts are part of ecosystems and have their own value.
Many animals and plants have adapted to desert environments, and the wind and solar energy of deserts are also valuable resources.
Therefore, we should respect the existence of deserts and seek ways to coexist harmoniously with them.
However, for deserts where vegetation degradation is caused by human activities, we have a responsibility to take action.
Through scientific control and greening plans, we can improve the ecological environment of these areas, making them habitable lands once again.
After all, the disappearance of deserts will not only have a negative impact on ecosystems but also threaten human survival and development.
Therefore, we should adopt an attitude of respecting nature and protecting the environment, taking effective measures to control and improve desertification issues.
Only in this way can we achieve harmonious coexistence between humans and nature and create a better home on Earth together.
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