[Old School]

The term for that is called desertification, which has been proven by scientist. I learned about this term in my Sociology class last semester. We done a study on how this is affecting non-industrialized countries.

Contrary to popular belief, droughts do not cause this. Human activity is the culprit, these areas have very delicate eco-systems and with the constant human activity on these desert ecosystems, we have caused an imbalance.

According to Ridley Nelson the desertification problem and processes are not clearly defined. There is no consensus among researchers as to the specific causes, extent, or degree if desertification. Contary to many popular reports, desterification is actually a subtle and complex process of dererioration that may often be reversible.

One remedy for sand dunes is to cover the dunes with large boulders or petroleum this will interrupt the wind and keep the sand from moving. Sounds like to to me that they either need a surface mine or a few oil wells drilled in these areas.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/desertification/