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Leaders Meet in Madrid to Mark World Day to Fight Drought

Children and adults cool off in a fountain in a park by the river in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Spain's weather service says a mass of hot air from north Africa is triggering the country's first major heatwave of the year with temperatures expected to rise to 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in certain areas. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Children and adults cool off in a fountain in a park by the river in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Spain's weather service says a mass of hot air from north Africa is triggering the country's first major heatwave of the year with temperatures expected to rise to 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in certain areas. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CIARÁN GILES)
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Madrid (AP) -- Politicians and experts met in Madrid on Friday to discuss ways to tackle drought and the increasing spread of deserts across the globe.

"The consequences of drought can affect up to three quarters of humanity by 2050. There is nowhere to hide if we are unable or unwilling to avert the severe alterations we are inflicting on the planet," Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD, said at the opening of the meeting.