aridification

[ uh-rid-uh-fi-key-shuhn ]

noun

, Ecology.

1. the long-term process by which a humid region becomes increasingly dry, chiefly as an effect of climate change and often in combination with human interference with the ecology. Compare desertification ( ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of aridification¹

First recorded in 1900–05; arid + -i- + -fication