Friday, May 27, 2022

What does the Green New Deal say
about Savory's 'reverse desertification'?

Ecologist Allan Savory's 2013 Ted Talk shows a number of impressive examples of reverse desertification, which he believes could transform the huge swath of desert lands stretching around the globe to sequester enough carbon to reach pre-industrial levels of atmospheric carbon. His secret: Deploy large animal herds to leave their excrement on a big patch of ground, and then move the herd elsewhere in the next day or two.

Why? Desertification has long been associated with overgrazing of herds, he notes. But once past a certain point, the desertification accelerates once herds are gone. In the period since the last Ice Age, grasslands have been cleared of wild herds and predators in favor of human-controlled herds. The result has been that, without predators, the herdsmen don't replicate that tight predator-prey dynamic

that kept the grasslands chemically suited to sustain grass. Desertification follows. But if the predator-prey dynamic is mimicked by herders following a predator-prey herd motion pattern, the desert ground is chemicalized as grass-suitable soil.

As with any scientific proposal, Savory's work has received criticism. Wikipedia reports that his controversial ideas have sparked opposition from academics -- ranging from debate on evidence for treatment effects to the scope of the potential impact for carbon sequestration.

Yet how much do the political Green New Dealers know about this possibility? Certainly it would seem plausible to consider this process for part of an armamentarium of methods for countering climate change. The Green New Dealers -- including in the White House -- are using the terroristic approach of frightening and forcing people to give up gas-propelled vehicles, when it is not necessarily clear that this is the best approach to climate change, especially when scientists are well aware that there are other massive sources of airborne carbon pollution that have far more impact than automobile traffic. In fact, uncontrolled desertification stands out like a sore thumb, as does methane flatulence from large cattle herds. Airborne methane molecules are are said to form a highly effective greenhouse gas as opposed to the carbon dioxide molecule.

The point is that the "silver bullet" panaceas should be viewed with concern. Rather an array of approaches is needed, which would be tweaked over time as practical results come in. What is an essentially "one-size-fits-all" approach is NOT earth science, though it makes for a ruthless ideology aimed to squeeze everone into socialist conformity. (It's just another manifestation of the covid scaremongering technique.}

No comments:

Post a Comment

A sweet dose of storm aid