World's oases threatened by desertification, even as humans expand them

Oases are important habitats and water sources for dryland regions, sustaining 10 per cent of the world's population despite taking up about 1.5 per cent of land area.

But in many places, climate change and anthropogenic activities threaten oases' fragile existence. New research shows how the world's oases have grown and shrunk over the past 25 years as water availability patterns changed and desertification encroaches on these wet refuges, Gazeta.Ru reports citing Science Daily.

The study found that oases around the world grew by more than 220,149 square kilometres (85,000 square miles) from 1995 to 2020, mostly due to intentional oasis expansion projects in Asia.

Worldwide, the researchers found there was a loss of more than 134,000 square kilometres (51,738 square miles) of oasis land over the past 25 years. The researchers estimate that changes to oases have directly affected about 34 million people around the world.

The researchers found that global oasis area increased by 220,800 square kilometres (85,251 square miles) over the 25-year timeframe. Most of that increase was from humans intentionally converting desert land into oases using runoff water and groundwater pumping, creating grasslands and croplands. The increase was concentrated in China, where management efforts have contributed more than 60 per cent of the growth. For example, more than 95 per cent of the population in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region lives within an oasis, motivating conservation and a 16,700 square kilometre (6,448 square mile) expansion of the oasis.

International cooperation plays a crucial role in oasis sustainability.