Where is warm and dry, with no mountains, rivers and lakes for many kilometers stretch of steppe and desert.Another feature that unites them is the lack of trees and boundless expanse.
What is different from the desert steppe
Despite the apparent similarities, steppes and deserts are more distinctive features.The first and most important - the geographical location.Desert gravitate toward the equator, which explains the high temperatures in these areas and dry climate, which in turn leads to a scarcity of originality of flora and fauna.Steppes are in a more comfortable, because they are located far to the north, which provides greater rainfall, and as a result, the presence of a thick (at certain times of the year) grass cover, as well as a variety of animals inhabit these lands.Steppes are more suitable for converting them into arable land.Thus, the main feature is the climate.It is difficult to portable, virtually anhydrous due to the high temperatures in the desert, he turns the earth's surface in the sand and salt marshes.Rocky and clay soils are suitable except for cacti, euphorbia and other succulents and xerophytes able to endure for a long time a terrible heat.In the steppes of the many kinds of cereal grows, these soils lend themselves to domestication.In recent decades, large areas were cultivated.
Various threats
Yourself inherent in these spaces of similarities and differences, and the threat of steppes and deserts has the common and distinctive features.The former include climate change and human activity, the host often reckless character.For steppes danger are weathering and erosion of soils, deserts - their subsequent draining.So, the main threat to the steppes - a soil erosion is a process of destruction of the upper, the most useful layers.These phenomena are caused by the nature (no mountains and natural forest barriers that can get in the way of destructive winds).
timeless human element
The flat terrain is not conducive to the natural outflow dropped heavy rainfall, covered ditches and ravines, and useful minerals, soil eroded and modified.There's no getting around it.As an example, a catastrophe that happened in North America.We are talking about dust storms that raged for a decade, from 1930 to 1940, in the steppe zone, called the prairies there.Americans love to give to wars and disasters beautiful names, that is a series of unique strength of storms was called "Dust Bowl."It resulted in a massive displacement, people are left, even in Canada.At this stage of human development can not be at a decent level to confront what threatens the steppes and deserts.The only thing that the earth's population - is not to aggravate the situation, does not contribute to and does not provoke devastating natural processes.Do not cut down the forest, do not drain swamps, turning the area occupied by them before, not in the fertile land, and desert sand.Protect open spaces, rich black soil, the value of which is so great that the Germans took out the rolls upper fertile layer of Ukrainian soil.
man as an enemy of nature
So threatens steppes and deserts more - natural disasters or unreasonable activity homo sapiens?After all, global warming, which changes direction of ocean currents, is also not without human intervention.It can destroy even the meager desert flora and fauna, contributing to the further and rapid drying of the soil of the desert and the adjoining areas, transforming the past into the lifeless space.
Of course, man is called intelligent, and its activity is not always destructive.Nature has a certain power of self-preservation, and faith in a brighter future not be discounted.Save the nature of the earth can an integrated approach to solving this problem, the participation of all countries.And then, among all that it threatens the steppes and deserts, to the forefront policies.And glaring example is the temporary shutdown of irrigation canals the government of Ukraine in Crimea.The result of such actions could be a drought that can destroy large areas of arable land, which employ inhabitants of the peninsula were converted Crimean steppe.Further more.At risk is the pastoral economy as drought leads to a decrease in the amount of feed.This is an example and unwise policy and irrational human activities simultaneously.In this regard, we note that it is impossible to achieve positive results in a national economic sector due to the destruction of others.An example is the development of shale gas that can poison not only the black soil and water, but life itself in these lands make it impossible.
not so hopeless
but does not want to talk only about what threatens the steppes and deserts, as well as all of the human nature.There are many-established techniques to stop soil erosion.There is the prospect of an agreement on the termination of the discharge into the atmosphere of destructive substances that promote thinning of the ozone layer of the Earth, and as a result, leading to global warming - it's common human sense.Protect the steppes and deserts may be, by and large, within the borders of one country.In this case, the important factor is the availability of highly skilled professionals, and the ability to implement them reasonable and useful decisions in life.One of the methods to combat soil erosion, lying on the surface, are planting windbreaks, artificial irrigation, avoiding the use of harmful chemicals that give immediate results.The important role played by the establishment of protected areas, with reasonable restrictions on certain types of human activity.If the reserve established in the territory of the wilderness, cascades of artificial lakes adorn the landscape and enrich the local flora and fauna.
