When the Vikings first settled Iceland, much of the island was covered in lush, green vegetation. The settlers began widely farm
ing the region and allowing livestock to graze freely. But the Icelandic vegetation was very slow to grow back, and farming rapidly removed the few nutrients that the soil held. These practices continued for centuries and drastically increased the rate of erosion and decreased the quality of the soil. The result is that today many once-lush regions of Iceland's landscape look like the desert pictured below. The example described above illustrates that A.
human choices can cause minor changes to the Earth but cannot cause desertification.
B.
human land use choices can drastically alter the Earth's surface and cause desertification.
C.
desertification is a natural phenomenon that cannot be impacted by human land use choices.
D.
desertification tends to result when erosion decreases and soil quality increases.
