4. What is the difference between drought and desertification?

The drought of a site is a temporary situation of water scarcity, that is, the water becomes insufficient for a time to be able to satisfy the needs of humans, plants and animals that live in said site. When drought strikes, the water authorities force consumption to be reduced and apply rationing to preserve this vital liquid.

Desertification is a phenomenon whose progress is difficult to perceive with the naked eye because it is growing slowly, but without pause. It significantly affects the socioeconomic environment, causing damage and human displacement.

Desertification has been defined by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification as “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones resulting from various factors, such as climatic variations and human activities”. The Convention was signed in 1996 , ratified by more than 190 countries. In his prologue, he pointed out that desertification and drought, fundamentally attributed to human activities, constitute problems of global dimensions, since their effects affect all regions of the planet and that it is necessary for the international community to adopt joint measures to fight against them, due to its particularly tragic consequences on the African continent.”