BBC: Are the deserts getting greener?

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8150415.stm

Are the deserts getting greener?

By Ayisha Yahya
BBC, World Service

It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places.

They think vast, dry regions like the Sahara might soon begin shrinking.

The evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat.

It could be that an increase in rainfall has caused this effect.

Farouk el-Baz, director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at Boston University, believes the Sahara is experiencing a shift from dryer to wetter conditions.

…

[kestrel91316]

1. The Great Basin, North America's biggest desert, is getting drier and

warmer, and springs are drying up. Species are moving uphill, and are clearly threatened with loss of their "real estate" as temperatures climb. The science is already in. All that's left is for us to watch the dominos fall.

I'm pretty much convinced not enough people give a damn, and it's gonna be the "worst-case" scenario. And maybe worse.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Of course, it's possible (likely?) that not all deserts will react the same

The Sahara and the Great Basin are in very different geological situations.

[pscot]

2. I read that the Sahara is moving north

The southern part is greening up, while the south European littoral is drying.

[AlecBGreen]

4. National Geographic featured this not too long ago

The Sahel is the region between the "true" Saharan desert and the fertile areas to the south. Over the last 60 years, the Sahel has been marching south. Thus the Sahara is expanding and the wetter regions shrinking. They've had some success with reclamation projects along the boundary - villagers are shown agricultural techniques to reverse desertification. It works, but its like the the Dutch girl with her finger in the dike.

All scenarios Ive seen call for the drying out and enlargement of the Sahara. So far, thats whats been happening.