China is Geoengineering Deserts With Blue-Green Algae (scmp.com)
- Reference: 0180569304
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/12/1932258/china-is-geoengineering-deserts-with-blue-green-algae
- Source link: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338326/great-green-wall-20-china-geoengineering-deserts-blue-green-algae
> Deserts are hard to reclaim because plants cannot survive on shifting sand, but scientists in northwest China are changing that -- by [1]dropping vast amounts of blue-green algae onto the dry terrain . These specially selected strains of cyanobacteria can survive extreme heat and drought for long periods, according to China Science Daily on Thursday. When rain finally comes, they spring to life, spreading rapidly and forming a tough, biomass-rich crust over the sand. This living layer stabilises the dunes and creates the perfect foundation for future plant growth.
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> This is the first time in human history that microbes are being used on a massive scale to reshape natural landscapes. As the "Great Green Wall" -- China's massive multi-decade initiative to plant trees and fight desertification -- expands to include efforts in Africa and Mongolia, the unprecedented geoengineering technology could one day transform the face of our planet. This artificial "crusting" technique was developed by scientists at a research station in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, located in northwest China on the edge of the Tengger Desert, according to China Science Daily.
[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338326/great-green-wall-20-china-geoengineering-deserts-blue-green-algae
What could possibly go wrong... (Score:4, Informative)
Step 1: Terraform deserts into green areas that require rain.
Step 2: Local climates change.
Step 3: Rain amounts change due to local climate change.
Step 4: Unforeseen consequences. Previous areas that used to get enough rain now see drought conditions worsen.
Re: (Score:1)
Formatted as a joke, but so far not moderated Funny and I tend to concur. At one level is sounds like a good idea, but we sure don't know everything about how climate works. So let's shoot some more technology at it and see what happens?
Does remind me of some stuff I recently read about the causes of ice ages. Minor changes in temperature that allow more snow to last through the summer leading to accumulations of snow leading to glaciers... (My memory is so fuzzy that I suspect I read it in Japanese and wha
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The goal is to fight [1]desertification [wikipedia.org], that is, to undo the harm we're doing to the environment and put it back to the way it was before.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification
I think it is a great idea. (Score:2)
Seems like deserts are ripe places for terraforming.. I wonder why we don't put up windmills, and pump salt water into them. There are trees and plants that can thrive with salt water. They would 'resparate' clean water. Form a bit of an ecosystem eventually with bugs and critters. Seems better than to waste all of that land... doing nothing productive.
Re:I think it is a great idea. (Score:4, Informative)
Saturated brine is a pretty hostile environment, which is what you would eventually get. The water evaporates, the salt sticks around.
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True, salt is a 'tradable' resource. I also wonder if it would be possible to float a nuclear plant in the ocean, to just boil water, such that the path would go over desserts, and possibly rain. I think it would be a worth while endevour, but there isn't a specific profit to be made doing that for any one company.
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Toss a smallish asteroid into the Pacific ocean?
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Just brainstorming ideas.... they may be ridiculous, my mind just thinks that way. Once and awhile I hit on a good idea. :-).
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What are you smoking? Windmills kill whales.....or something.
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*giggles* trump the great scientist strikes again!!
Kinda Similar? (Score:2)
Is this similar to how we cover bare dirt, like land cleared for construction, with grass seed and then a layer of straw over the top to stop it blowing and washing away before roots go down?
There's also a sprayable slurry of seed and "mulch" to cover bare spots and small areas. But I've not seen that one used on anything larger than half an acre.
Chinese greening their land (Score:2)
Here's a [1]video [youtube.com] of China's greening efforts.
If China keeps on the way it's been going, eventually the whole country will be green!
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvc7VymDa4c
I'll have a green / Crustmas / without blue (Score:4, Interesting)
"Deserts are hard to reclaim because plants cannot survive on shifting sand..." I always figured that deserts were hard to reclaim because non-desert plants can't survive without water. As cyanobacteria are one of the oldest species on the planet, I'm also rather surprised to hear that anyplace that they could sustainably colonize hasn't already been colonized.
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Stop, you using too much common sense.
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The way I read it, the bacteria isn't supposed to survive. It's just gunk to form a crust for erosion control. Think hair spray but for sand dunes.
Seems even more stupid now. Doesn't it?
Re: I'll have a green / Crustmas / without blue (Score:1)
Hmm, using single cellular organisms to stabilize sand is hardly new. Saudi Arabia uses Archaea residue to stabilize their dunes - otherwise known as petroleum oil.
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Wikipedia has a summary of the [1]causes of desertification [wikipedia.org]. The most relevant part:
> Though vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the soil, studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover. Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.
The goal is to create a crust over the top that resists erosion and gives plants a place to grow. Once the plants are established, they further resist erosion.
It's a little unintuitive that heavy rain can sometimes promote desertification. When there's lots of plants, the rain soaks into the ground and helps them to grow. If the plants are removed (through overgrazing, unsustainable agriculture, drought, etc.), it washes aw
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification
Not first time (Score:2)
Mankind has been doing this kind of thing for thousands, if not millions of years. The fact that it involves bacteria vs plants is not unique. Yeast, Lactobacillus, Aspergillus, are just some of the more famous ones.
We discovered Azotobacter in 1901 and have been using it to fix nitrogen for quite some time.
Neato but (Score:4, Insightful)
That's neat, I'm glad it's working, I just hope it doesn't leave yet another toxic debt. Cyanobacteria commonly produce toxins.
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Nah....just using man science to remake the world....
What could possibly go wrong....?
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Nothing could possibly go wrong. The invisible hand of capitalism will... um... Squirrel!