Ancient civilizations that once reigned 40 over green and fertile lands are now ruins shrouded in shifting sands. These haunting silhouettes of tired stone serve as a reminder of a threat which, if not impeded, moves swiftly to smother all forms of struggling life in its path. Now another civilization, our own, is falling prey to this terror. It manifests itself in famines and the rapid depletion of precious agricultural land. It is the underlying problem, the little-known cause. It is DESERTIFICATION.