Definition of "desertification" [desertification]

• The transformation of arable or habitable land to desert, as by a change in climate or destructive land use. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term desertification was coined to convey this drama of pressing and interconnected issues in drylands, but human-induced land degradation extends beyond drylands or forests."
• "The threat of desertification is significant for over a third (35 percent) of Greek land and somewhat less so for another section accounting for half (49 percent) of the country, according to Constantinos Kosmas of Athens†™ s Agriculture University."
• "Protecting forests to stop desertification is a major step towards strengthening our common global environment."