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Deserts are known to mankind, but the term desertification has always been an elusive concept. It is now defined in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as land degradation in the drylands (land failing within arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas) resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. This definition, which is now being used worldwide to describe desertification and its impacts, leads to the need to consider carefully the two-way interactions between climate and desertification. Dramatic changes in agricultural practices during the last several decades are one of the main driving forces for land degradation in the drylands and examples of land degradation are given for several regions around the world. The effects of desertification on climate have been described mainly in terms of changes in land use and land cover leading to land degradation; overgrazing; biomass burning and atmospheric emissions; agriculture’s contribution to air pollution; forest and woodland clearing and accelerated wind erosion; anthropogenic land disturbances and wind erosion; and the impact of irrigated agriculture on surface conditions in drylands. It is equally important to consider the impact of dryland climates on soils and vegetation and the impact of climate change on desertification. It is important to adopt uniform criteria and methods to assess desertification and encourage monitoring of dryland degradation in all the regions around the world. To better understand the interactions between climate and desertification, it is also important to identify the sources and sinks of dryland carbon, aerosols and trace gases in drylands. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.