Aridification impacts and adaptation strategies in the world’s drylands: a review

Global aridity is increasing due to anthropogenic warming, which raises atmospheric evaporative demand faster than precipitation. As a result, more land and populations are exposed to arid conditions, a trend projected to intensify in the coming decades. Aridity is a long-term climatological condition that affects large regions worldwide. Unlike short-term phenomena such as droughts, aridity leads to gradual but increasingly detrimental impacts on biophysical and socio-economic systems. Over time it can transform landscapes into desert-like environments, hindering the development of life and compromising the well-being of societies. The impacts of aridity are complex and diverse, and it is especially challenging to assess its effects on socioeconomic systems. Yet no global review has systematically examined the impacts of aridity, the factors driving societal vulnerability, and the adaptation measures being implemented. This paper provides the first comprehensive synthesis of these dimensions, thereby filling a critical gap in the literature. Our review shows that while references to biophysical impacts are increasing, explicit studies on socio-economic consequences—such as those on food production, poverty, health, and migration—remain scarce. These are often inferred indirectly from related concepts like drought or desertification. By systematically integrating this dispersed evidence, our article highlights both natural and socio-economic impacts, identifies key knowledge gaps, and outlines priority areas for future research. Such knowledge is essential for improving mitigation and adaptation strategies that strengthen resilience in increasingly arid regions.