Three-Quarters of Earth’s Land Got Drier in Recent Decades, U.N. Says

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1. From the American West to eastern China, more than 3/4 of Earth’s land became persistently drier in recent decades, according to a new United Nations report calling the shift a “global, existential peril.”

   Nearly one in three people live in moisture-deprived areas, up from one in five in 1990. Many of these places are major food producers, such as Argentina, Spain & the Black Sea region. Worldwide in recent years, 650,000 square kms of the planet’s healthy & productive land has degraded annually.

   Places scientists classify as drylands don’t just face occasional drought. They’re persistently moisture-deficient: Much more water leaves the ground through evaporation & plant vapor release than arrives as rain or snow. As of 2020, 40%+ of Earth’s land outside Antarctica was considered dryland.

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