‘Areas of our planet getting drier’: ESA shares concerning visuals of deserts captured from ISS
“We need to save our planet Earth,” an Instagram user wrote, reacting to the images of Earth taken from the ISS.
The European Space Agency (ESA) posts visuals of not just the world beyond the Earth but also of our Blue Planet. In their recent share, they posted a series of concerning visuals showing “areas of our planet that are getting drier.” These visuals captured from the International Space Station (ISS) have sparked a discussion on climate change and left people worried.
"There are areas of our planet that are getting drier. Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands, often caused by human activities and climate change. It reduces land productivity and can lead to famine, the ESA wrote.
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Talking about the visuals, the space agency wrote that they show deserts from around the world captured by astronauts while on the ISS. The visuals help ESA and similar agencies to "monitor land degradation and understand desertification".
ESA concluded the post with a note of positivity: "By working together, communities can implement sustainable land management practices to combat desertification and preserve our precious ecosystems."
Take a look at the entire post here:
Since being shared, the post has accumulated more than 12,000 likes - and the numbers are only increasing. The share has further collected tons of comments from people.
What did Instagram users say about this post?
A concerned individual posted, “We need to save our planet Earth,” and another added, "My heart feels heavy when I read this.”
A third added, “This is really sad”. While a fourth wrote, “Our home, our Earth. We need to save it”.
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The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) defines desertification as, “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities”.
Desertification and land degeneration are serious challenges that can lead to poverty, hunger and driver unemployment. They also increase “the risk of extreme weather related to climate change”.
What are your thoughts on these visuals showing the desertification of planet Earth?