5 posts tagged with desert and climatechange.
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"Nowhere else is the lifegiving power of water so clearly demonstrated"
In winter, the Kalahari Basin in northern Botswana is a dusty, windswept wasteland of scrubby flora, with precious little rain. But not for long. As captured by a somber and wondrous segment from the original BBC Planet Earth, summer showers from the Angolan highlands soon feed a meandering river that splays out across the wilderness, flooding a vast inland delta that transforms hundreds of miles of arid desert into a verdant everglade teeming with life: the Okavango. This seasonal miracle, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Africa's Seven Natural Wonders, attracts all manner of megafauna that have adapted to its myriad creeks and lagoons, from migratory birds and amphibians to all five Big Game species (making it a boon for ecosafaris). And though it is (like most things) under threat from exploitation and climate change, conservationists worldwide are working tirelessly to defend it. [more inside]
Flying Rivers
The biotic pump theory proposes that evaporation or transpiration causes clouds formation that reduces atmospheric pressure, and then draws additional moist air into the regions with high evapotranspiration, i.e. forests draw moist air inland, while deserts lose moisture to seas. Although unproven, rainfall patterns fit the theory. [more inside]
Galt's Empty Quarter
"NEOM does not really exist yet, but from descriptions of the plans, it sounds like something a nine-year-old might dream up. There will be robot dinosaurs and robot cage fights. There will be “a genetic-modification project to make people stronger,” and cloud seeding to make it rain in the desert. It will “supplant Silicon Valley in technology, Hollywood in entertainment and the French Riviera as a place to vacation.” The beaches will have “glow-in-the-dark sand.” One prince involved with the project said: “I don’t want any roads or pavements. We are going to have flying cars in 2030!” A giant artificial moon will be raised in the sky each night. (It is unclear why the actual existing moon will not suffice.)" “NEOM” MAY BE OUR FUTURE (Current Affairs) Saudi Arabia’s crown prince turned to U.S. consultants for help imagining a massive new city-state in a barren section of his kingdom (WSJ)
A water fight in Chile's Atacama raises questions over lithium mining
Reuters reports on the world’s two biggest lithium producers' plans to increase output by drawing more brine from beneath Chile's Atacama desert, the world’s driest, and the attendant environmental impact. The story includes an accompanying interactive infographic version and photo essay. The industry's impact in the region has also caught the eye of photographer Edward Burtynsky, with images of lithium brine operations in the Atacama forming part of the work in his collaboration with Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, The Anthropocene Project.
Chinchorro mummies and climate change
The Chinchorro mummies are found in northern Chile and southern Peru; the oldest of them date to thousands of years before the first Egyptian mummies. Some of them mummified naturally, but most were intentionally mummified. The hot, arid conditions of the Atacama desert aided in this process. However, these mummies are now the latest victims of climate change, as increased humidity encourages bacterial growth that is transforming them into black ooze.
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