Desertification Risk

I came across two very interesting maps from the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). The first map shows desertification vulnerability. The second shows the risk of human-induced desertification. I felt it was particularly striking, perhaps a little obvious, but still extremely important to recognise how many of the regions most under threat were those of the largest populations! Does this exacerbate perception that humans may be the largest threat to desertification phenomena? The social and cultural 'sub-cycle' to Charney's hypothesis perhaps becomes even more important!