Human Impact

 http://www.abc.net.au/science/photos/2012/11/21/3636626.htm

The human impact on the Great Victoria Desert is very good.  Due to the harsh climate and its geographical isolation, the Great Victoria Desert has not been disturbed much by humans aside from the original natives living in it.  There is very little room in the Great Victoria Desert for farming and grazing lands.  This has prevented the land from being disturbed and cleared. Some mining has been occurring in the desert.  However, it has not at all caused any degradation in the environment. In that regard, few people have settled in the Great Victoria Desert, and thus the human disturbance has been kept to a minimum.  Furthermore, under the Australian Parliament, around 20% of the Great Victoria Desert has been placed under conservation protection.  The largest of these areas, the Unnamed Conservation Park, covers around 21 thousand square kilometers and access to these regions are extremely limited.

-http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa1305

However, not everything is all good with the Great Victoria Desert, in the 1950s and 1960s, nuclear weapons testing were initiated in regions near the Great Victoria Desert by the United Kingdom.  These nuclear weapons tests resulted in various sites in the desert to be contaminated by radiation.  Of particular concern is plutonium-239 due to its long half-life and possibility of contamination through inhalation.  There have been attempts at a clean-up in 1996 and 1999 but the effects of the country’s efforts are debatable.  Indirectly, the roads that were built to access the test sites can be used by off-road vehicles and lead to further erosion of the land.

-http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361

 http://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/acris/pubs/bioregion-great-victoria-desert.pdf

http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/science/bio_audit/great_victoria_desert01_p343-350.pdf

Most alarming, however, is the introduction of non-native species to the desert.  Australia as a whole has been continuously plagued by these feral animals and the Great Victoria Desert is no exception.  Of particular concern are the infamous rabbits of Australia, who continuously eat away all of the native vegetation and reproduce constantly.  Also included are mice, wild dogs, feral cats, and foxes.  The isolated natural wildlife of the desert has few countermeasures against these invasive species and with no natural predators, these animals are essentially free to do what they wish. 

-http://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/acris/pubs/bioregion-great-victoria-desert.pdf

-http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Victoria_desert?topic=74361