The United Nations's annual World Day to Combat Desertification, known as 'World Desertification Day', will be celebrated on Sunday. The focus of this year's theme, ''desertification and climate change—one global challenge'', is to raise awareness about the dangers of desertification and the importance of prevention. Experts have warned that nearly a fifth of the world's population is directly or indirectly threatened by desertification. Countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Central Asia, the Middle East, parts of Africa, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile are particularly vulnerable to this crisis. In Bangladesh, some non-governmental organizations are planning to observe the day, as government initiatives to address the issue have been lacking. Abu Sumon, who is the director of Wetland and Coastal Biodiversity Project at the Department of Environment, emphasized the significant impact of global warming this year. He also highlighted desertification as a consequence of global warming, noting the discovery of plants growing naturally in harsh environments as evidence of desertification in the northern region of the country. Sumon pointed out that Barindra land has the hardest soil in the country and mentioned the decreasing underground water level as a recent phenomenon directly linked to the issue. The United Nations has issued a warning that global warming is contributing to the expansion of arid land, potentially displacing millions of people in the future. The UN's leading authority on global warming cautioned in April that rising global temperatures could have severe impacts on precipitation patterns, snowmelt runoff, and river flows in many countries already facing water scarcity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that between 80 and 200 million more people could face food insecurity by 2080. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reports that 70 percent of the world's agricultural drylands are degraded and at risk of desertification due to factors like overgrazing and deforestation, with climate change exacerbating the threat. The UN body stated that desertification is growing rapidly, with well-known environmental and social impacts, yet it has not been given the necessary attention at national, regional, and international levels.