It is feared that in a matter of years the eastern, the southern &western fringes of nigeria may be ..........

Question

encroached, if not checked. How many years from now could this possibly happen given that according to a recent study, desertification has to date encroached on a total land mass of 1,650 square kilometres in the 19 Northern states at the speed of 0.6 kilometres per year [Total land area of Nigeria is 910,768 sq. km.] Pls show how you derived your answer.

Answer 1

Simple calculation is 910/1.65 = 551 years ..

Of course that ignores the possibility that :-
1) During the next 550 years the rate of desertification due to climatic effects remains constant (highly unlikely)
2) During the next 550 years, no human action is taken to change the rate of desertification i.e. that the population and hence the demand for usable land is reduced at the same rate as the land becomes unusable (mighty unlikely)
3) During the next 550 years technology will not change to the point where humans can reverse the effects of desertification (or otherwise make productive use of the land)