Drought and Desertification in Iran

Iran has different climatic and geographical zones (mountainous and desert areas), mostly arid and semi-arid, which are suffering from land degradation. Desertification as a land degradation process in Iran is created by natural and anthropogenic driving forces. Meteorological drought is a major nat...

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Main Authors: Iraj Emadodin, Thorsten Reinsch, Friedhelm Taube
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-08-01
Series:Hydrology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/3/66
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spelling doaj-234983cb5d2d48a68bb18d7384ab99fb2020-11-25T01:57:18ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382019-08-01636610.3390/hydrology6030066hydrology6030066Drought and Desertification in IranIraj Emadodin0Thorsten Reinsch1Friedhelm Taube2Institute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding, Group of Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 9, 24118 Kiel, GermanyInstitute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding, Group of Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 9, 24118 Kiel, GermanyInstitute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding, Group of Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 9, 24118 Kiel, GermanyIran has different climatic and geographical zones (mountainous and desert areas), mostly arid and semi-arid, which are suffering from land degradation. Desertification as a land degradation process in Iran is created by natural and anthropogenic driving forces. Meteorological drought is a major natural driving force of desertification and occurs due to the extended periods of low precipitation. Scarcity of water, as well as the excessive use of water resources, mainly for agriculture, creates negative water balances and changes in plant cover, and accelerates desertification. Despite various political measures having been taken in the past, desertification is still a serious environmental problem in many regions in Iran. In this study, drought and aridity indices derived from long-term temperature and precipitation data were used in order to show long-term drought occurrence in different climatic zones in Iran. The results indicated the occurrence of severe and extremely severe meteorological droughts in recent decades in the areas studied. Moreover, the De Martonne Aridity Index (I<sub>DM</sub>) and precipitation variability index (PVI) showed an ongoing negative trend on the basis of long-term data and the conducted regression analysis. Rapid population growth, soil salinization, and poor water resource management are also considered as the main anthropogenic drivers. The percentage of the rural population in Iran is decreasing and the urban area is growing fast. Since the 1970s, the usage of groundwater in Iran has increased around fourfold and the average annual decrease in the groundwater table has been around 0.51 m. The results of the study provide a better ex-post and ex-ante understanding of the occurrence of droughts as key driving forces of the desertification in Iran. Additionally, they can enable policymakers to prepare proper regional-based strategic planning in the future. Desertification cannot be stopped or managed completely, but could be mitigated by the adoption of some proposed sustainable land management strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/3/66desertificationaridificationdroughtgroundwaterwater scarcitysalinizationIran
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Iraj Emadodin
Thorsten Reinsch
Friedhelm Taube
spellingShingle Iraj Emadodin
Thorsten Reinsch
Friedhelm Taube
Drought and Desertification in Iran
Hydrology
desertification
aridification
drought
groundwater
water scarcity
salinization
Iran
author_facet Iraj Emadodin
Thorsten Reinsch
Friedhelm Taube
author_sort Iraj Emadodin
title Drought and Desertification in Iran
title_short Drought and Desertification in Iran
title_full Drought and Desertification in Iran
title_fullStr Drought and Desertification in Iran
title_full_unstemmed Drought and Desertification in Iran
title_sort drought and desertification in iran
publisher MDPI AG
series Hydrology
issn 2306-5338
publishDate 2019-08-01
description Iran has different climatic and geographical zones (mountainous and desert areas), mostly arid and semi-arid, which are suffering from land degradation. Desertification as a land degradation process in Iran is created by natural and anthropogenic driving forces. Meteorological drought is a major natural driving force of desertification and occurs due to the extended periods of low precipitation. Scarcity of water, as well as the excessive use of water resources, mainly for agriculture, creates negative water balances and changes in plant cover, and accelerates desertification. Despite various political measures having been taken in the past, desertification is still a serious environmental problem in many regions in Iran. In this study, drought and aridity indices derived from long-term temperature and precipitation data were used in order to show long-term drought occurrence in different climatic zones in Iran. The results indicated the occurrence of severe and extremely severe meteorological droughts in recent decades in the areas studied. Moreover, the De Martonne Aridity Index (I<sub>DM</sub>) and precipitation variability index (PVI) showed an ongoing negative trend on the basis of long-term data and the conducted regression analysis. Rapid population growth, soil salinization, and poor water resource management are also considered as the main anthropogenic drivers. The percentage of the rural population in Iran is decreasing and the urban area is growing fast. Since the 1970s, the usage of groundwater in Iran has increased around fourfold and the average annual decrease in the groundwater table has been around 0.51 m. The results of the study provide a better ex-post and ex-ante understanding of the occurrence of droughts as key driving forces of the desertification in Iran. Additionally, they can enable policymakers to prepare proper regional-based strategic planning in the future. Desertification cannot be stopped or managed completely, but could be mitigated by the adoption of some proposed sustainable land management strategies.
topic desertification
aridification
drought
groundwater
water scarcity
salinization
Iran
url https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/3/66
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