Band 8+: The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make relevant comparisons.

The pie chart illustrates the main causes of worldwide agricultural land degradation, while the table compares how these factors affected three regions – North America, Europe, and Oceania – during the 1990s.

Overall, over-grazing was the leading global cause of land degradation, followed by deforestation and over-cultivation. In terms of regions, Europe experienced the highest proportion of degraded land, whereas North America was the least affected.

According to the pie chart, over-grazing accounted for 35% of global land degradation, making it the most significant factor. This was closely followed by deforestation at 30%, while over-cultivation contributed 28%. Other causes made up a relatively small proportion, at just 7%.

The table shows clear regional differences. In Europe, a total of 23% of land was degraded, mainly due to deforestation (9.8%) and over-cultivation (7.7%), with over-grazing also playing a notable role (5.5%). Oceania had 13% of its land degraded, almost entirely as a result of over-grazing (11.3%), while over-cultivation had no impact in this region. By contrast, North America experienced only 5% land degradation, with over-cultivation (3.3%) being the primary cause.