Climate Change Causing Both Beneficial and Harmful Effects
I’ve run across two different reports so far today suggesting that the surge in atmospheric CO2 is causing an increase in the amount of vegetation due to greater photosynthetic activity. I have no doubt that this is true; in fact, it’s one of a few lucky consequences of our dependence on fossil fuels.
If you’re a Canadian farmer, you’re experiencing another happy accident: warmer and longer growing seasons. The problem is that the bad effects greatly out number the good – even in the narrow scope of vegetation. As climate change continues, vast regions of currently arable land will become deserts.
Craig,
It’s important to realize the threat of desertification so that it can be thwarted.. but like everything else in climate change, the desertification of the interior represents an accommodation cost, not a life-ending catastrophe.
If we keep electing the governor Perrys of the world who ignore the threat, then yes there will be gradual desertification of the interior of many major land masses. This is because the vapor pressure of water will remain higher throughout the year, meaning that whatever precipitates and is exposed to direct sun will evaporate more quickly from the land, gradually lowering the moisture content of the soil, which would result in a gradual lessening of the water available for the water cycle in that area…
But remember that both the Amazon Rainforest and the great Sahara Desert are interior portions of large land masses that straddle the equator. Desertification would be assured in the absence of a canopy, but with a canopy there’s no reason to anticipate desertification at all. We have the ability to grow real canopies or construct artificial ones. I personally expect much of the Midwest will be mega-sized greenhouses within 50 years, but suburbs and cities can easily create far more shade space and moisture condensation/collection surfaces.
Also, there is the potential to desalinate and pump water inland for hundreds of miles, freeing up more water for consumption from far inland sources.
It will cost, as everything involved with accommodating warming will cost. But as long as we get rid of the politicians that don’t care about anything further away than the next election cycle, these are costs our society can easily absorb without difficulty.
Of course, in some cases it is much cheaper to MITIGATE these costs, hence your blog… (though nonsense technologies like EV’s or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles do net damage and somehow still get lumped in with mitigation strategies).
😉