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Drylands are areas with limited water resources. Rainfall is scarce, unreliable and concentrated during a short rainy season with the remaining period tending to be relatively or absolutely dry. High temperatures during the rainy season cause much of the rainfall to be lost through evaporation, and the intensity of storms ensures that much of it runs off in floods. Aridity and variability are two dominant characteristics of dryland climate and several classifications based on aridity have been developed. It is apparent that the FAO and UNEP approaches and classifications produce divergent assessments of the range and extent of drylands throughout the world (Table 1).
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