desertification: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	desertization

Photos

desertification

Large baobab trees with thick trunks and sparse branches grow in a grassy, wooded landscape in Senegal, West Africa.

A woman stands in a millet field near Maradi, Nigeria, pouring grains from a large gourd to remove the husks, with green crops and blue sky in the background.

Al-Kufrah oasis

Rows of tall corn plants fill rolling fields in Schuyler, Nebraska, creating a pattern of green and golden lines across the landscape.

See All Images →

Topics

Climate change environmental change Desert Cold desert The Sahara Was Once Green How Do Deserts Form?Why is Antarctica a desert?

Chutes d'Ekom - a waterfall on the Nkam river in the rainforest near Melong, in the western highlands of Cameroon in Africa.

Ecosystems

Chutes d'Ekom - a waterfall on the Nkam river in the rainforest near Melong, in the western highlands of Cameroon in Africa.

Ecosystems