{"thcode":2,"term":{"code":246,"name":"desertification","parent":168,"scope":"The alteration of arable land to dry, barren land due to prolonged drought or the deleterious effects of human intervention including overgrazing, overpopulation, or destructive agricultural practices."},"uf":[],"bt":[{"code":168,"name":"climate change","parent":63,"scope":"Long-term alteration in the characteristic weather conditions of a region, such as changes in precipitation and temperature."},{"code":63,"name":"atmospheric and climatic processes","parent":101,"scope":"Phenomena affecting or occurring within the mass of gases that surrounds the earth, including its physics, chemistry, dynamics, and weather conditions."},{"code":101,"name":"biological and physical processes","parent":1174,"scope":"All continuing activities, functions, and phenomena associated with organisms and non-living matter."},{"code":1174,"name":"topics","parent":1,"scope":"Themes, subjects, and concerns for which USGS information resources are relevant."},{"code":1,"name":"Categories","parent":null,"scope":"Thematic terms for categorizing information resources.  This thesaurus is intended to support finding and understanding scientific information."}],"nt":[],"rt":[{"code":170,"name":"climatology","parent":68,"scope":"Scientific study of the characteristic weather conditions of geographic areas."},{"code":245,"name":"desert ecosystems","parent":1156,"scope":"Biological communities and habitats in arid areas with little precipitation, sparse, highly adapted vegetation, and extreme temperatures."},{"code":311,"name":"ecology","parent":650,"scope":"Study of the relations between living plants and animals and their environment."},{"code":531,"name":"hazards","parent":1174,"scope":"Potential dangers from both natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, floods, and climate change) and human impacts on the environment."},{"code":629,"name":"land use change","parent":548,"scope":"Effect of changing land use patterns on ecological systems."}]}