ABSTRACT
Human causes of deserts are those associated with unwise land use practices at times of climatic stress, i.e., during the existence of drought. These practices lead to desertification – the spread of desert-like conditions in arid and semi-arid areas, due to human influence. The desert radiation balance is far less sensitive to water. A Desert Meteorology Unit should concern itself not only with the causes of deserts, but also how any information obtained may be used as an aid in desert settlement and agriculture. A great deal of thought has been given to the possibility of modifying the desert climate, thus reversing the desertification process. Since there are relatively few desert clouds, and there is a relatively small amount of desert rainfall, desert rainfall augmentation experiments must be designed to yield positive results. The importance of the deserts for the atmospheric circulation has been amply brought out.
