As Earth keeps warming, more and more of the planet is becoming dry. In the last three decades, over three-fourths of all the world’s land became drier than it had been in the previous 30 years. Drylands now comprise 40.6% of all global land (excluding Antarctica). The number of people living in drylands doubled over the last 30 years to 2.3 billion, representing over 25% of the global population. In a worst-case climate change scenario, this number could climb to 5 billion by 2100.
news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/03/18/desertification-the-earth-is-getting-drier