Rescuing drylands: a project for the world

Environmental hazards menace life-support systems in drylands worldwide; sc ience and technology can play an important role in enabling the habitats an d their people to cope with these. Desertification is a global issue, compa rable to other generally-recognized global problems such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and epidemic diseases. And desertification can be st opped, if science and technology are mobilized in the service of a determin ed international effort. Three global initiatives are essential: (1) a drou ght early-warning system; (2) international desertification research center s; and (3) an international program to develop water resource technologies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.