Sahara spreads into Europe

20 December 2000



Sahara spreads into Europe

By FWi staff

THE Sahara Desert has crossed the Mediterranean and is turning parts of southern Europe into desert, reports The Guardian.

A lethal combination of soil degradation and climate change could mean that a third of Europes land could eventually be affected.

A United Nations conference heard that a fifth of Spanish land is becoming desert and new figures show that tracts of land in Italy are technically desert.

Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece are already so badly affected that that they have joined the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Russia have also reported signs of desertification.

• The Guardian 20 December 2000 page 11