THE FUTURE OF DESERTS

Major changes are likely to be experienced in the arid and semi-arid l ands in the next few decades. The most important changes will be induc ed by increasing human pressure of various kinds: increasing populatio n, both in rural and urban contexts, continuing oil developments, and larger numbers of ambitious water developments. Urban populations have profound impacts in semi-arid lands, which are all the more obvious f or the absence of vegetation cover. Rural populations may be reaching the limits of cultivable land in many areas, and this could, though no t: necessarily, have impacts on soils and vegetation. These changes ma y or may not be serious enough to influence climate and so induce a re al and perhaps lasting change in these environments. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited