Feb. 10, 2010 Researchers have measured the degradation of the
planet's soil using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a
scientific methodology that analyses the environmental impact of
human activities, and which now for the first time includes
indicators on desertification. The results show that 38 percent
of the world is made up of arid regions at risk of
desertification. "Despite improvements in the LCA, it has a
methodological weakness, which is a lack of environmental impact
categories to measure the effect of human activities such as
cultivation or grazing on the soil," Montserrat Núñez, lead
author and a researcher at the Institute of Agro Food Research
and Technology (IRTA), said. The research, published in the
latest issue of the International Journal of Life Cycle
Assessment, is the first study in the world to include the
impact of desertification in the LCA, based on classifying 15
natural areas or "eco-regions" according to their degree of
aridity. By simultaneously using the LCA and a Geographic In