desertification

The Sahel has been degraded by human use, not natural desertification; the natural process has been the reverse.

So why do we invariably connect higher temperatures with droughts and desertification?

The presence of a nearby desert has no direct relationship to desertification.

Desertification does not occur in linear, easily mappable patterns.

Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend toward greater aridity, or it may initiate a change in local climate.

This degradation of formerly productive land—desertification—is a complex process.

Unfortunately, an area undergoing desertification is brought to public attention only after the process is well underway.