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Dessertification
Medium: collage, ink print from a sockeye and oil paint on canvas
Year Produced: 2007
Dimensions in inches (H x W): 36" x 48"
Desertification, long identified with Africa, could be identified with Canada by 2100. Globally, the rate of desertification is speeding up. Desertification, which increases as warmer temperatures draw moisture out of the soil, and rainfall declines, is fueled by unsustainable development, and is projected to eventually cover nearly a third of the world’s land surface, placing 1.2 billion people at risk. The loss of arable land can lead to collapsing fisheries and reduced crop yields. Africa, at greatest risk, with two-thirds of its land already either desert or drylands could lose between a quarter and a half of its river water by 2100. Even Canada’s Fraser River basin and Thompson River are not immune: Sixty percent of urban expansion occurs on Class I and Class II agricultural and forested lands and British Columbia’s water supply is at risk to population pressures and glaciers and rivers effected by global climate change.
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