Climate and desertification: looking at an old problem through new lenses

Global poverty, defined in almost any way, is disproportionately concentrated in the arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid regions - the drylands - of the world. We suggest that the intrinsic biophysical features of these environments, interacting with some social systems that are now no longer appropriate for the changing environment, lead to widespread situations where people living in such areas are trapped in a downward spiral of environmental degradation and loss of well-being. Externally driven changes in both the social and physical environment, ranging from trade rules to global climate change, contribute to this syndrome. The resultant destabilization of regional climates, ecosystems, hydrological systems, and the social fabric has consequences for neighboring lands as well as the global community. A more holistic set of interventions, that engages both local and global actors, is needed to reverse these negative trends.