The bar graph illustrates the change in percentage of desertificated land in four different regions – North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and Australia – between two distinct period.
Overall, the share of land affected by desertification has increased from 1990 to 2010 in every region except for Australia, where it has slightly declined.
In numbers, in North America the proportion of dry land rose from 12% to 15% in 20 years. Turning to Europe, the drop was less significant. In fact, it increased to 12% from the starting point of 9-10%. However, the most relevant growth in the percentage of desertificated land has happened in Sub-Saharan Africa, which reached the value of 35%. In fact, this latter region has lost almost 7% of land that could have been used for agriculture and urbanization. In contrast, Australia showed an inversed and surprising trend. Indeed, the proportion of land that became desert marginally fell from 14% to 13%.