Science and Technology Daily recently reported on severe desertification of land in China. With 2,636,200 square kilometers of desertified land, China is now one of the largest countries of desertification. Nearly 0.4 billion people are living in those areas. Human factors have been identified as the primary cause of the problem. Under the burden of high-speed economic development, the demand for water is above the bearing capacity. Stockbreeding [overgrazing] has overloaded the land as well. The article recommended four strategies to remedy the problem.
Source: Science and Technology Daily, June 18, 2009.
http://www.stdaily.com/special/content/2009-06/18/content_73248.htm