In the Northern Hemisphere, if vegetation is destroyed, what are the possible impacts on surface morphology, rivers, lakes, and coasts?

Drought is coming to South Asia

Since the beginning of summer, a severe drought that has not been seen in decades has come to the South Asian subcontinent. From southern Afghanistan to Pakistan and all the way to northern India, severe drought has caused the death of people and large numbers of livestock, and caused huge economic losses.

Three million people in southern Afghanistan are suffering from the worst drought since 1971. Due to a prolonged drought and no rain, the groundwater level in the Kandahar area has dropped to a depth that cannot be reached by wells. The livestock mortality rate has reached 50% to 60%, and a grain harvest is a foregone conclusion. The drought is worsening the situation for the war-torn Afghan people. Currently, there are about 400,000 disaster victims in Afghanistan who can only rely on relief from the United Nations to survive.

In Pakistan, the southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan are the most severely affected. The Thar Desert area in Sindh Province has been declared a disaster area since November last year. It has not had rainfall for more than eight months and the maximum temperature has reached 49 degrees Celsius. About 400 people have died from drought-related illnesses in Thar region alone so far this year. At least 750,000 livestock have died in the Chagai, Bising and Kalan districts of Balochistan.

India's drought is mainly concentrated in the northern states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. As many as 80 million people have been affected, and a large number of victims have fled their homes.

At present, the drought in South Asia still shows no signs of easing. On the contrary, it is likely to worsen further. According to officials from the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the drought in southern Pakistan is likely to intensify before the rainy season begins in July.

High temperatures occur in Russia

According to media reports, in northern Kazakhstan, the northeastern Aral Sea and the Kolyma River Basin, the temperature in April this year was 6% higher than the average temperature for the same period in previous years. degrees Celsius. In the central region of the European part of Russia, Belarus, the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, as well as Russia's Salekhard region, southern Western Siberia and eastern Yakutia, the temperature in April was 4 degrees Celsius higher than the previous average temperature for the same month. Among them, in the Moscow region, the temperature in April was 5.3 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature for the same month in normal years, and the monthly average temperature reached 11.1 degrees Celsius. This is the highest April temperature in Moscow since 1891 in the history of meteorological observations.

Russian experts pointed out that the entire northern hemisphere repeated the record high temperatures in April 1995 in April this year, with the monthly average temperature reaching 16.3 degrees Celsius.

Data sent back by French and American ocean observation satellites show that after several consecutive years of rising sea levels, the global average sea level suddenly dropped significantly in 1999 and returned to the level of 1996. level.

This ocean observation satellite named TOPE-POSEIDON was jointly launched by the French National Space Research Center and NASA in August 1992. Its mission is to observe the movement of the global ocean and sea levels. changing circumstances. Since 1993, the satellite has sent observation data back to the ground every 10 days. It is said to be the first tool to help humans accurately measure changes in sea level.

Observations from this satellite show that in 1994 and 1995, global sea level rose by an average of 1 millimeter per year. Since then, sea level rise has accelerated. Global sea level rose by 2 millimeters in 1997 and even higher in 1998. Experts believe this is related to the El Ni?o phenomenon. Surprisingly, however, global sea level dropped significantly in 1999, falling to 1996 levels.

Sandstorms are looming

Experts believe that the severe drought in South Asia is the inevitable result of the destruction of the ecological environment. For a long time, the economy of vast areas from Afghanistan to northern India has been completely dependent on local natural resources. People have burned forests for hunting without restraint, dried up swamps for fishing, mountains have been cut bare, vegetation has been destroyed, and large tracts of land have turned into deserts. Most of Pakistan's Baluchistan Province has turned into a desert or semi-desert, with not a single green tree to be seen for dozens of kilometers, and several rivers marked on the map have dried up or are drying up.

Some international figures pointed out that if South Asian countries want to fundamentally get rid of the troubles of natural disasters such as droughts and floods, they must gradually restore ecological balance, realize the transformation of a resource-based economy into a knowledge-based economy, and establish a sustainable economic model of development.

Scientists say that this year is at the peak of the anti-El Ni?o phenomenon. The speed and intensity of changes in this large-scale ocean and atmospheric process are greater than in the past, resulting in the frequent occurrence of strong cold waves and winds in northern my country last winter and this spring, aggravating the Last spring, the temperature in North China and the eastern part of Northwest China increased significantly, which was rarely seen in the past 40 years. At the same time, precipitation was sparse, vegetation had not yet formed, and there was no obvious precipitation process that could suppress sand blowing before each strong wind. As a result, after the thaw The surface soil in large areas is dry and loose, resulting in repeated strong sand and dust weather.

Experts pointed out that the partial improvement and overall deterioration of surface vegetation conditions in northern my country is another important reason for the occurrence of strong sand and dust weather this year.

Under the influence of global climate change, droughts and warm winters in northern my country have become increasingly intensified. Coupled with the interference of unreasonable human activities, large areas of vegetation have been destroyed. The expanding desertified land has provided material for the frequent occurrence of sand and dust weather this year. source.