Sandy Soil Of S. Hungary Turns To Sand Dunes As Region Dries Up - Reuters

[hatrack]

MORAHALOM, Hungary, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Grapes still feature on the coat of arms of this small Hungarian town but in the dry fields, weeds are taking over from vines and fruit trees. The sandy soil around Morahalom in southern Hungary is getting alarmingly dry, and experts and locals warn that a large area of the region risks turning into desert.

Morahalom is in the Homokhatsag district which is home to around 40,000 people and has always had sandy soil -- Homok means sand in Hungarian. But now the deterioration in soil quality may be threatening the livelihood of 300,000 people or more in a larger surrounding area between the Danube and Tisza rivers due to climate change and a legacy of unsustainable farming and water management.

"When the strong winds come in the spring ... then everything becomes grey ... and it creates a horrible storm of dust, like in the desert," says Morahalom's Deputy Mayor Laszlo Csanyi, a potato and pepper farmer. Hungary's case illustrates the dangers of a global problem of creeping desertification. Experts say deserts are spreading because of degradation of soil in dryland areas, mainly due to a rising human population. Many fields in the Homokhatsag area look green, but that healthy appearance is deceptive. One reason for the colour is the spread of an aggressive weed whose roots can draw water from much deeper than fruits and vegetables.

"(Desertification) is like high blood pressure or diabetes in humans," said Balint Csatari, director of the regional institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in Kecskemet, southeast of the capital Budapest. "You cannot see it just by looking at the person, but inside it is working insidiously and destroying the organism." On average, ground water levels in the region have dropped by more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) since the 1970s, with a fall of up to 7 metres in some places.

EDIT

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01608323.htm

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Milennia ago, the Sahara Desert was supposed to be one of the

earth's largest, lushest farmland.

[Odin2005]

2. grazing land, actually.

It used to be one huge expanse of brush savanna. This was because in the time period between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago. the West African monsoon was stronger then it is now and what was left of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet pushed the temperate rain belt farther south.