A desert-like area is forming in Central Hungary where tropical, subtropical plants are becoming dominant
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We wrote before about the drying out of the so-called Sand-Ridge, a huge, more than 10,000 km² area in Central Hungary. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) declared the territory a semi-desert in 2020. Experts say that the rising average temperature and the decreasing amount of precipitation may give space for tropical, subtropical plants and kill indigenous species.
Sand Ridge in Central Hungary endangered
We wrote in THIS article that the drying out of the Sand Ridge in Central Hungary endangers the lives of more than 620,000 people, approximately 6.6% of the Hungarian population. The region served as a fertile agricultural zone for centuries, producing a variety of fruits and crops. Today, some of its parts look more like a desert with lots of sand and dust.
Experts believe we are in the 24th hour concerning intervention, so authorities must act as soon as possible. In the 19th century, many dams were erected here to free as much space for agriculture as possible. Now, those dams must be closed to keep the water in the territory instead of helping it “run away” from the Carpathian Basin. The Hungarian government wrote in March that more than 100 Hungarian farmers volunteered to allow their territories to be “flooded”.
Climate change, the rising average temperature and the decreasing amount and changing precipitation distribution result in depleting wells and bone-dry soil with compulsory irrigation. However, the latter is not a possibility in some areas. We wrote about that issue in THIS article.
Exotic, heat-loving plants from distant regions can conquer Central Hungary
According to Telex, if climate change continues and we do nothing, the Kiskunság area of Hungary, well-known from Sándor Petőfi’s poems, will look like a semi-desert in decades. For example, the feather grass (árvalányhaj) and echinops (kék szamárkenyér) could be displaced by exotic, heat-loving plants from distant regions.
