MUCH of Earth’s landmass is drying out, damaging the ability of plant and animal life to survive, according to a United Nations report published today.

It was released at the UN summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on combating desertification — once-fertile lands turning into deserts because of hotter temperatures from human-caused climate change, lack of water and deforestation. 

It found that more than three-quarters of the world's land experienced drier conditions from 1970 to 2020 than in the previous 30-year period.

Ibrahim Thiaw, chief of the UN’s convention to combat desertification, said: “The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were.

“This change is redefining life on Earth.”

At the talks, which started last week and are set to end on Friday, nations are discussing how to deal with droughts and the problem of degrading land.

The convention’s chief scientist Barron Orr warned that drier land could lead to “potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even closer to disastrous tipping points,” where humans are no longer able to reverse the damaging effects of climate change.

Andrea Toreti, one of the report’s lead authors, said addressing the issue will require “co-ordinated international action and an unwavering commitment.”