Remember when there was a desert?
I bet you thought the biggest desert the world was the …Sahara. Sorry it is number 3 by area… But numbers one and two are covered with ice and snow and that is probably why you did not think of them. You probably also thought that every desert, especially the Sahara, was just a vast half continent of sand dunes and you are also only partially correct.
But wait there is more!
In the late 1900’s some folks asked why that Sahara desert could not be reclaimed. Some of the governments dug up a technique that had been used in antiquity to wring sparse water out of the desert, much of which gets moist winds from the oceans. Several countries took the money and made the effort in various scattered ways. As the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation due to human activity became ever clearer, momentum grew. At last, in 2007, 11 African Desert states signed up to the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) in an effort to restore degraded land and hold back encroaching desertification. One of the key methods for wringing the water out of the Spring rains and the wind is by digging half-moon shaped holes. Yep, it turns out the ancients that lived in the area discovered this trick and used it way back then. Fortunately, the modern folks listened to the locals and tried the special shaped ditches again and they worked. The video below describes the details of their construction, The gist of it is by using these manmade ditches and cultivating the water they collect, the Sahara is getting green around the edges.
A crude line across the Southern Sahara has turned green. A little scavenged water turned to grass. The grass allowed small animals that brought the seed of bigger plants and the trees brought shade and more wind wringers. The countries then added commercial farming. So that there is now a green border along the southern edge of the world’s best known desert. That green ring is growing wider, with intentional professional cultivation. The whole process has been boosted by the slight increase in the atmosphere of CO2. Carbon Dioxide is the breath of life for plants and even minor changes can help plants grow. Ask the greenhouse owners along the South shore of Canada. https://www.ontario.ca/page/supplemental-carbon-dioxide-greenhouses
Satellite images confirmed that in many areas, the tide of desertification was being held back or even reversed. Estimates revealed that the pace of restoration will have to increase as much as four-fold to hit the 2030 target. BTW: Peru wrings water from the winds of the Pacific Ocean for local water supply in the mountains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8rQ5aHAnuE
Desert Sands
Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton are stuck on a deserted island, who survives?
America.
A male contestant qualifying for an “Are you smarter than a fifth grader” type contest took an entry exam. One of the questions was: “What is the oldest desert in the world?” His answer was “Apple pie.”
A Russian call-in talk show listener asked: “Is it possible to build socialism in Sahara desert?”
We are answering: “Possibly, but you will end up with a shortage of sand.”
About a month ago, I got a Christmas cactus, and a week later, it died. I got really depressed
because I was like, damn, I am less nurturing than a desert.
December 23rd Birthdays
1867 – Madam C. J. Walker, 1994 – Reed Alexander, 1994 – Isabella Castilo, 1970 – Shannon Bream
1963 – Jim Harbaugh, 1948 – Jack Ham, 1971 – Naked Cowboy, 1943 – Harry Shearer