Climate, extreme events and land degradation

Abstract

The frequency of occurrence of climate extremes in temperature and precipitation is expected to increase during the next century (Easterling et al. 2000). Here we examine the impact of the climate extremes of heavy rainfall, drought, and high winds, on processes of land degradation, including floods, mass movements, soil erosion by both water and wind, and salinisation. Case studies are used to explore the impacts of individual events on land degradation, as well as the role of decadal-scale temporal and spatial variability in climate systems in driving extreme events. Predictions of future trends in the frequency and magnitude of extreme events, based on an ensemble of general circulation models and on regional climate models, are examined.