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00:03 This is Spain, world famous for its football, culinary art,
00:10 bullfights, architecture, beaches, and the list goes on.
00:15 You would be surprised to know Spain still has a king.
00:19 It has a national anthem with no words.
00:22 It has the third largest number of UNESCO sites in the world.
00:26 And very soon, it is going to be a dessert.
00:29 Yes, a dessert.
00:31 Surprised?
00:32 Then you must watch this video till the end.
00:35 We tell you the telltale signs of how desertification
00:38 is underway faster than we assumed.
00:42 Let's first understand what is desertification.
00:45 It is characterized by a severe degradation of the soil,
00:48 causing it to lose its productive capacity.
00:51 Global warming drives the rise in temperatures,
00:54 leading to water evaporation.
00:56 This causes more wildfires.
00:59 Human activities, too, are to be blamed, the biggest culprit
01:02 being intensive farming.
01:04 Sample this.
01:06 Almeria is a city in southeast Spain.
01:08 Despite its very dry climate, it has transformed itself
01:12 into Europe's vegetable garden through its 40,000 hectares
01:16 of greenhouses, which produce thousands
01:18 of tons of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumber all year round.
01:24 These vast crop-producing areas are exacerbating the problem
01:28 by using groundwater and depleting the vegetation.
01:32 But yes, this is also true that Spain
01:34 won't become a desert like Sahara
01:36 with kilometers of sand dunes and all.
01:38 That's not going to be the case.
01:40 But the situation is alarming.
01:43 The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
01:46 reports that 75% of Spain's land is facing climatic conditions
01:51 that pose a risk of desertification,
01:53 making it the most endangered European nation concerning
01:57 this issue.
01:58 So what's the solution?
02:00 Farmers are being encouraged to use manure instead
02:03 of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
02:05 to limit the damages to the soil.
02:08 They are also using plant matter to cover the soil in order
02:11 to conserve moisture when it rains.
02:13 Environmental associations are pushing for new ways of farming
02:17 by reducing irrigated areas and using
02:19 crops that consume less water.
02:22 Spain's tourism is the backbone of the economy,
02:25 and it has seen significant growth over the past two
02:28 decades.
02:29 Home to world's top tourist destinations,
02:32 Spain will have to brace itself for stricter means
02:34 to save its soil to ward off challenges in the decades
02:38 to come.
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