Can we stop the deserts from spreading?

[@DWPlanetA]

Do you like this video?👍Or do you hate it?👎Either way, we'd be grateful if you would share your thoughts about Planet A with us in this survey 👉surveys.dw.com/c/dwplaneta

[@防水哈哈]

If u make desert 354 be green Allen (god) will kill you😂

[@qqw743]

My first concern came as soon as the video opened. The phrase "Can be seen from space" is not impressive if you show something that is magnified with an excellent camera. The point of the phrase originally was "can be seen from space with the naked eye," which crop circles cannot.

[@imtheeastgermanguy5431]

​@@防水哈哈what?

[@imtheeastgermanguy5431]

​@@qqw743I guess that you can see it with the nacked eye from space

[@sheetalbhalerao8192]

God bless you 🙏 Pl.start greening from sea coast area. Plant &grow tall spreading shadows various trees 🌳 suitable for Soil&climate of the regions such as babool Rohida khejari kar jal saru etc.(These r Rajasthan desert)Try other remedies also. After greening land,come inside, inside go on continue it till last inch of land covered with dense forest

[@limbodog]

It's also been shown that you can mount massive solar farms a bit higher up in the air (3meters+/-) and space them out a bit, and it allows you to grow crops underneath. They get plenty of sunlight and are offered some shade too to help prevent overheating and evaporation.

[@leosmi1]

yes

[@ooblah10]

This is a slept on idea, it's genius.

[@Bot-xp6kl]

I am not sure but i think solar panels leach out some dangerous chemicals wich you don't want on your crops

[@ooblah10]

@@Bot-xp6kl Are you sure? If that was the case I don't think so many houses would be covered in them

[@limbodog]

@@Bot-xp6kl lead and cadmium, apparently. Though it depends which technology is used for the cells. Good point.

[@koicaine1230]

Where I live is basically beach sand, I've been growing a garden for 4 years and although it is constant work because everything filters down through the sand, it's still worth it because now we have, insects, birds, reptiles and an ever growing list of species that keep showing up in a place that was completely devoid of life before I started the garden.

[@iwanttobeabillionaire1703]

The green desert. That would be a good name for a book PS: I have a duck video, a chicken video, a video where i am begging for money on Twitter, a walking video... Also a patreon

[@commanderzavala9328]

@@iwanttobeabillionaire1703 No

[@sn31t33]

You could A) built a watering system that only gives water where needed and constant drops over a day. B) lay down a foil in like 50 cm depth that stops the water in running thru the ground. When you have to much baby diapers, insolation wool, news paper or what ever binds water (however you have a surplus of it) you could work it in the ground so that the ground can hold onto the water more easily. Even exchanging or mixing the ground with dirt works.

[@sn31t33]

Also every little peace of food you have left over, can be turned into compost which should boost your amount of soil over the years that holds the water instead of running thru.

[@koicaine1230]

@@sn31t33 Thank you. I compost everything, make charged biochar, use leaves and cut grass for mulch (I'm signed up for Chipdrop) and a lot of other things. It just takes a lot of time and effort the first few years or so.

[@annetteheath4694]

The Paani Foundation in India holds a competition for villages who are in need of water. It is called the Water Cup. It works by training the villages in water harvesting and then they have 45 days to put the infrastructure in place. It is hugely successful. I think it can work in most area of the world which is facing desertification.

[@ChuckHolland-i4b]

I LOVE the water cup! It's amazing that villages get together and use the same techniques their ancestors used before the industrial revolution. Swales, aqueducts, small dams, permaculture. I'll have to check for some new episodes.

[@sujoms]

I am from Hungary. The South of Hungary is very sandy and it is hard to farm. So what did the farmers do? They started growing trees called: Robinia pseudoacacia (originally from north Mexico). This plant is actually kind of invasive, but it also has some benefits. 1. Produces flowers for bees 2. It's roots go really deep, and it can withstand dry soil 3. Grows fast and binds water in the ground (it co-operates with many fungi) In hungary it was used to bind sand and quicksand in the southern area of Hungary . It has spikes, but camels could eat the spikes (once you get a big forest of Robinias , they grow back really quickly. The only problem is, they "sleep" during winter. So I am not sure how it would grow in the sahara.. Anyone has any experience with this? Please comment. We have some areas in Northern Hungary where they plant these trees and within 5 years , instead of sand, you get this "brownish" sandy something, and earthworms can survive in the shades, meaning they can produce the bacteria needed.

[@sebastianwendl603]

This comment i severely underrated. Low-tech, cheap, does the job. We need this, not some Sci-Fi "solution" that is so expensive noone does it.

[@danguee1]

Unfortunately, from wikipedia: "the bark, leaves, and wood are toxic to both humans and livestock"

[@joltjolt5060]

It wouldn't sleep since there's no winter. Great idea, put some moss under it too.

[@matiascepeda5953]

Que tan veridica es tu informacion , tienes algun link?

[@TheMrGazoline]

Foreign plants are problematic. They did it near Beijing (where they also had the winter olympics) and everyone thinks it's a failed project, since there are so many trees there that aren't natural to the local flora.

[@gatsuyatsu]

The desert really sucks, we at the gulf region are fighting against all odds trying to plant and grow crop, so seeing things like this makes my happy.

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@raisin4406]

@@applez3015 SubhanAllah

[@tyrannosaurusrich5133]

not trying to offend you but if luscious green plants and wildlife is what you want, its never too late to change your life and live somewhere that you will enjoy! You can do it!

[@WhatHappenedIn-vt3vq]

@@tyrannosaurusrich5133 It's hard to leave where you are sometimes because people in more devopemed countries don't always welcome you. Where you are is also your home, which makes it very ideal to make it function as needed and intended

[@WhatHappenedIn-vt3vq]

@@tyrannosaurusrich5133 Texas used to be dirt poor waterless hellscape that you couldn't even hope to fix because the harder you worked the higher the chance locals or neighbors would steal your land. That all changed with widespread agriculture and terrain development that's the ideal in every area its reasonable resource wise if we don't fix the damages, they'll just spread and we'll lose resources we need until we no longer have enough to support our populations effectively

[@user-kn6vw4sr2r]

Here in the philippines, it storms and flood almost all year round. How we wish we can share some of the rains with the desserts.

[@tishaak2800]

@amaterasu uchiha China isnt the only country with a desert tho

[@RR-xz6bv]

@amaterasu uchiha the government only controls their people when the people are not dying by their hands. When the people suffer they turn on who claims to be in charge

[@holliegould3463]

i feel like this should be something that like actually exists, yaknow? like places that get massive amounts of rainfall can collect it and distribute it globally like that's such a powerful resource the earth needs so bad 😭

[@steveunderhill5935]

@@holliegould3463 bottle the water and trade it for gasoline.

[@holliegould3463]

@@steveunderhill5935 or food or any other resource humans need to live!

[@veronicarosalez3025]

So interesting learning about these large scale projects and about the different methods on how to help the plant. Greening those areas helps the people in the areas and the ecosystem.

[@iwanttobeabillionaire1703]

The green desert. That would be a good name for a book PS: I have a duck video, a chicken video, a video where i am begging for money on Twitter, a walking video... Also a patreon

[@sebastianfaz8176]

Actually no, Deserts are its own ecosystem and a very important one. The sandstorms that end in the ocean provides with nutrients delivered by these unique climates. Turning deserts into forests is not a good idea

[@robins4209]

That's the problem. By helping the people in those areas, we contribute to a MORE overpopulated planet. People need to die to save this planet, and nature takes care of that herself. Tsunamis, Viruses/Pandemics, Earthquakes, Volcano eruptions... All these things kill people, and natue creates these things for a reason.

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@RomanTheNotARoman]

@@robins4209 Those are not actions against us from some anthropomorphized nature. Those are just things that happen naturally whether humans exist or not, they just happen to interfere with us. Nature does not choose. Nature is the environment and if we are not progressing to mitigate any unpredictable changes so human population and habitability of the Earth remains stable then that is a problem we've failed to solve.

[@mosabreda1157]

It's nice he never said the "Sahara Desert" and just said the "Sahara" as it should be called! This was an amazing video

[@snapperjessen]

the desert desert :)

[@waqasahmed939]

The term "Gobi desert" is something that does make me chuckle a bit I get that in the native Mongolian it means something else, but in Punjabi, Gobi means cauliflower. The idea of a cauliflower desert is interesting

[@Hhenryarero]

More attention should be given to the Desert to Stop Desert spreading

[@vutEwa]

Al Bayda is an awesome project. I watched the construction of the gabions some years back when it was being created. They also used earth bag construction to build walls. It's really quite an involved project. Not just about saving water but also in protecting the land they are working on from predators and stuff so that they can get maturity out of the landscape that returns.

[@09conrado]

And the investment in a better life for the local Bedou community, by focusing on job and skill training, cultural knowledge and traditions and setting up sustainable systems to keep animals. Such a well-thought out project. Neil Spackman has done a great job there, and even though the focus has shifted to housing now, my guess is that the earthworks will keep giving results for decades. Hope someone is wise enough to maintain them

[@smilo_don]

Of course we can, just like we can stop other climate crises, but will we?

[@ladyselenafelicitywhite1596]

Did you mean your last clause to be either? ...but we won't. Or? ...and we will.

[@smilo_don]

@@ladyselenafelicitywhite1596 I hope we will but feel a little pessimistic.

[@DWPlanetA]

@@smilo_don Well, this is why our channel is here. We're trying to figure out how to get out of this #climatecrisis mess. Hit subscribe and we can find out together. We release a new video every Friday 🙂

[@liamhamilton2719]

@@DWPlanetA Nah we're doomed, this video is only the tip of the iceberg and the companies/people in charge have every incentive not to care.

[@RapidReveal541]

@@liamhamilton2719 Hes doing what he can. Ill do the same. Doesnt matter if it actually successful or not in the grand scheme. We just need to do what we should do.

[@eduardopacheco923]

It's actually magic to me to find out crops are being grown on sand, because sand has THE LOWEST water retention capabilities of all tipes of soil, there must be a way to turn sand into a soil with more clay and loam proportions, so that it contains more water and lowers irrigation frequency

[@solar0wind]

If you can produce enough humic acids, i.e. humus, I suppose that that would increase the water retention by a lot. But agriculture is taking most compostable stuff away, so idk how to do that. Mixing other stuff into the soil might not even be good because it could change the living requirements for plants. Plants who can grow on sand, so that are native in desert regions, might not do well on other types of soil because they need the drainage. So maybe I'm wrong, but my guess would be that mixing the sand with humus would aready help.

[@rozaliramli3698]

Sand + clay + lime, that's cement.

[@jackorr6082]

@@solar0wind take a look at the works of David Montgomery, Gabe Brown, Alan Savory and Walter Jehne, these guys offer some proven and practical solutions.

[@someoneelse2472]

@@rozaliramli3698 if you first heat lime to high temperature :)

[@geraldfrost4710]

Be adding plant food to the atmosphere we ARE pushing back the deserts. Plants open their stomata to let in CO2 and let out O2. While the stomata are open the plant also loses water. As CO2 levels increase plants do not leave their stomata open as long, and do not lose as much water to transpiration: this makes plants more drought resistant.

[@bobyoung1698]

The United States has nearly drained aquifers that were assumed to last forever by growing food plants in areas where there was not enough rainfall to sustain plant life. Now, much of that area is in drought and various communities fight with each other about water rights. These types of developments can be fraught with danger and I hope the developers are considering the ramifications.

[@BattleSymphony349]

Tell me more, can u show me a link to this?

[@bobyoung1698]

@@BattleSymphony349 You can find articles under broad headings such as the Colorado River, California's Imperial Valley, the Ogallala Aquifer, and the recent droughts in California. Keep in mind that this all began in the 1930s when farmers began ripping up the natural sod on the Great Plains in order to plant corn and other food crops. When the rain stopped coming, we were introduced to what was called The Dust Bowl - millions of acres of what was once prime, natural grassland all turned to dust and blown away. That's when agriculture began sucking water from underground aquifers, thinking it would last forever. It didn't.

[@WhatIsTheHeat]

@@bobyoung1698 I fought in the dust bowl many times

[@bobyoung1698]

@@WhatIsTheHeat I generally watch it on TV - eating SAND🥪wiches.

[@sparkysmalarkey]

@@bobyoung1698 Not to mention all that water goes somewhere, it doesn't just disappear. (That is why it's far more important to focus on making the soil hold more water. We could be cleaning up the forests that cause so much property damage with fires and using that material to slowly put carbon and water holding ability back in the areas that are undergoing desertification. Just need to figure how someone can get rich doing it, unfortunately.)

[@johnely5050]

I think greening deserts is a wonderful idea. I wish governments in Australia would start such a project.

[@Spratdragon]

Why spend billions on that? Australia can already produce enough food for 80 million people with a population of only 25. Investment in aquaculture, vertical farming, and hydroponics is a better idea, I think.

[@guameldestruir6239]

@@Spratdragon more green land would mean more room for more australians which would mean more economic activity, would just need to have the right incentives and tax breaks for people to populate more

[@vivvz89]

This reminds me of an amazing story that was part of a documentary about the worlds deserts, where they showed an old man and his wife creating a garden in the Gobi desert! It's mind blowing to me how "simple" it would be for us to help the earth help us save it, but we're not doing it!

[@Picci25021973]

Permaculture and holistic pasture management are good solutions, as they operate according to nature. Look at the wonderful results of "Greening the desert" project by Jordan government, directed by permaculture guru Geoff Lawton, or at the results obtained on grasslands by Alan Savory in Zimbabwue and Botswana, or at the "Loess plateau" recovery in China by doctor John D. Liu

[@DWPlanetA]

Thank you for the references, our team will look into them. With regards to permaculture, we've already done a video on it before. Take a look and let us know what you think: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2HVgoGPgtytnLs

[@r016976]

That is what Saudi Arabia's doing all along its east coast

[@delicious619]

I second this. Many places around the world are educating themselves on how to work with nature and integrate it into infrastructure. I recommend Andrew Millison on KZbin. He did a miniseries on Permaculture in India that was fascinating.

[@Picci25021973]

@@delicious619 I know Millison's work very well.... have You seen his PDC course?

[@nntflow7058]

It won't work if we keep increasing the earth temperature in such a fast pace. Desertification is not the main problem, it's a symptoms of a bigger problem. Focusing on desertification would be like putting band aid at a gun wound.

[@TomsBackyardWorkshop]

Deserts are an essential ecosystem.

[@kedarmeow]

DW, Whenever I watch Your videos... I get a Hope that world will somehow get saved from Climate change. Everyone is doing some part to save this world.

[@jakobaljaz705]

check Allan Savory's TED talk, he's already doing that what you are discussing in this video on more than 1 milion hectares. Btw, the desertification is caused because we excluded all graizing animals from their natural habitats!

[@crackboi6003]

it's CO2 more CO2 leads to greening of the deserts and the world as a whole 10% greening in the last 3 decades warmer also means more plant growth

[@Roby-qu8nt]

Let's stop the desert from expanding and let's plant more flowers,trees and green plants!

[@davidmendelsohn1856]

Great information about how to make the most of the limited resources available

[@jeoshy1873]

It's all about knowing a disaster is coming and having the right mindset to combat it tbh

[@taboret12333]

knowing a disaster is coming since 1976 :D

[@Athrunwong]

Few days ago I read a news about the dessert area in Xinjiang, now has enough water they can start farming fish and crabs. They just did their harvest recently, to boost the local economy.

[@mrainzooalgown2190]

Chinese divert the water from southern china to northern area. Too much water in south flood always meanwhile northern has almost no rain.

[@davidcadman4468]

The Chinese have been working reclamation of deserts and preventing desertification for 30 to 40 years now. As well they are working a massive water diversion project that will be finished in 15 to 20 years. That will drastically alter the balance in climatology around the world.

[@crackboi6003]

it's CO2 more CO2 leads to greening of the deserts and the world as a whole 10% greening in the last 3 decades warmer also means more plant growth

[@chenhongyu1507]

@@davidcadman4468 it’s funny when u think the climate still have balance with all human activities.

[@jnusslein6301]

They ruined the landscape

[@jonathansaad9256]

Why can’t we invest more in this instead of going to war all the time😭

[@Hhenryarero]

Watching from Isiolo Kenya.Its like the Documentary Speaking to me and the Northern Kenya Situtation.Thumbs up for the You tube team and those who documented

[@oversmart77]

It's fascinating to learn about these innovative methods of growing crops in difficult environments. We were particularly taken with the idea of using solar farms to grow crops beneath and provide shade to prevent overheating and evaporation. And the story about growing Robinia pseudoacacia in Hungary to bind sand and quicksand was fascinating! It'd be interesting to see if it worked in the Sahara. We also sympathize with the Philippines' comment about wishing to share some of the rain with the deserts. Water conservation is clearly an important component of these projects, such as the Al Bayda project in Libya, which not only saves water but also protects the land from predators. It's inspiring to see how these projects' creativity and resourcefulness benefit both the environment and the people in those areas. Keep up the great work, Planet A!

[@NirvanaFan5000]

I love this content! more please! Also, please talk about the "great green wall" projects and water-from-air (the new types with MOFs, not the condensers; also, MOFs as fertilizers!). and how may automation contribute to these and other ecological projects? Cheers!

[@iwanttobeabillionaire1703]

The green desert. That would be a good name for a book PS: I have a duck video, a chicken video, a video where i am begging for money on Twitter, a walking video... Also a patreon

[@brokkoliomg6103]

what are MOFs?

[@NirvanaFan5000]

@@brokkoliomg6103 : Metal-Organic-Frameworks. They're kind of like microscopic sponges that can be tuned to remove specific molecules from its environment - including water. Once the water binds to the MOF, a bit of heat will release it. So you can have a MOF with that will collect water and release it at midday when it heats up - but it only does one cycle a day. By adding a solar panel and heating/cooling, they can make the process run several times a day, allowing it to suck water even out of very dry air. It's pretty amazing stuff. DARPA is investing in it to ensure soldiers have water access anywhere they go. But it's really set to revolutionize water access (as well as other things like CO2 removal, ammonia production, and much more). cheers

[@lysedeslune]

Thirty years later the Green Wall Project is a failure : +90% of the trees died from diseases.

[@NirvanaFan5000]

@@lysedeslune : That's why I'm interested in MOFs and the like. One of the main reasons they died was lack of water. That said, the project has learned a lot from early mistakes and is doing more sustainable work now.

[@LemberTheMember]

Solarpanels to provide shade for plants could also be a great option for desert countrys to reduce sun stress on their agricultural plants and produce electricity simultaneously!

[@sebastianwendl603]

True, but they would have to be pretty high up in the air to make for an even shade on the ground. I personally am a big fan of traditional layering: Trees on top, some crops underneath every other year. Maybe solar overhead, but that's optional. The shade of the solar panels will probably help the trees survive. They will, in turn, help crops on the ground. If you lower your expectations (a lot) and don't harvest too much, this could be sustainable. Just make sure some biomass can rot on the ground, so you don't drain the soil too much.

[@rumo893]

@@sebastianwendl603 You can space the cells in the carrier material so the sun comes through with lesser intensity, similar to trees. But in the end trees are better, because their root systems go deeper and they naturally deposit carbon. Then again, they grow slowly, and they do not produce electricity. Both should be implemented and tested, in my opinion.

[@Lady.Florescer]

I really want to see all this full of green and life! Kisses from Brazil...

[@ChrisandKen]

Great video. Raising awareness on these issues and possibilities is critical.

[@mahmoodahmad4844]

I apreasiating you are giving very valuable information to make our world beautiful and green 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@ToxicMothBoi]

About 4 years back i held a presentation about this in my school. I got a B for it. Such a great topic thats barely talked about. We as humans really need to educate more about our planets problems so we could fix them soo nenough

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@nigelhughes6588]

I saw an interesting idea where sea water was evaporated in greenhouses to provide fresh water for growing plants. It seemed a great way of de salinating water without consuming artificial energy. The moisture collected on the glass and ran down into channels that fed the plants. The main cost was pumping the water up from the sea to send it inland. so simple....(albeit not technically regreening a desert). Soils could be used by composting organic waste??

[@ypcyoungpaperchaser2557]

If we use that through out the increasing deserts we could also help with the rising ocean levels and make it stable

[@nicksurfs1]

The big problem to solve there is what to do with the brine ( concentrated un-evaporated sea water) because you can’t just dump it back in the ocean or desert and it’s not just salt.

[@iwanttobeabillionaire1703]

The green desert. That would be a good name for a book PS: I have a duck video, a chicken video, a video where i am begging for money on Twitter, a walking video... Also a patreon

[@faq_is_love]

@@nicksurfs1 Why can't you dump it back to the ocean? It's just a seasalt. And yes, some portion of it may be purified to make table salt.

[@Themrine2013]

@@faq_is_love its the consentration of it that is bad.(or so they say)

[@VS-oq6rz]

Wonderful. This is the most inspirational thing I've seen this year

[@DWPlanetA]

Thanks! Don't forget to subscribe to our channel. We have a new video coming out every Friday!

[@nyakarundi]

There is a lot of initiatives locally in Africa that are successful and they all engage old methods, I wish this documentary will speak more about those local initiatives but love the key points.

[@Hhenryarero]

New seeding and Forest restoration is highly important

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

I found the example of greenification with monoculture crops vs with a water table to be very interesting. Another example of how capitalism isn’t always the answer since the monoculture plants was based on turning a profit. Sure, it makes the place look green for a little bit, but it’s not sustainable for the long term. And frankly, it doesn’t even LOOK natural. Compare that to the example of restoring the water table: it takes longer, doesn’t turn a profit, but it also looks NATURAL and sounds much more sustainable. Hopefully it proves to be successful in the long term. I’ll have to keep an eye out for more information on the subject in the future.

[@Picci25021973]

it's a waste of resources... something like a golf course in the middle of nowhere.

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

@@Picci25021973 agreed. Recently I was doing research into where CA’s water goes and found out that 50% of what we use in Ag goes to corn, pasture, and alfalfa. Really disappointing how much we dedicate to feedstock for animals when we need to be working to reduce our overall water usage. Like you said, it’s a waste of resources.

[@tirushone6446]

Capitalisem, the driving force of climate change?!?!?!? Impossible.

[@jakobaljaz705]

check Allan Savory's TED talk, he's already doing that what you are discussing in this video on more than 1 milion hectares. Btw, the desertification is caused because we excluded all graizing animals from their natural habitats!

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

@@jakobaljaz705 cool, I’ll check it out

[@ninemoonplanet]

"Greening The Dessert" is one thing people who live in or near desserts should know about. It's done to ensure decades of continual improvement and productivity of foods while desalinating soils, feeding both animals and people with excess foods for the long term. University of Jordan is now teaching "permaculture techniques" for continued production without using aquifers.

[@jakobaljaz705]

check Allan Savory's TED talk, he's already doing that what you are discussing in this video on more than 1 milion hectares. Btw, the desertification is caused because we excluded all graizing animals from their natural habitats!

[@DWPlanetA]

@@jakobaljaz705 Thanks for the references, our team will look into them. As for the topic of permaculture, we've done a video on this before: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2HVgoGPgtytnLs - let us know what you think!

[@sfxdlwsrs]

"don't get me wrong, deserts are fascinating and unique ecosystems worthy of protection"

[@Sillyhands1]

It’s a fact that desertification is a natural process that many species have adapted around which is what he saying. However, desertification brought about by improper land use such as soil erosion from agriculture is not natural. This is what he is saying.

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@stuartwakefield1657]

Many years ago there was a project that used truck tyres on the desert. They put a mix of clay and soil in the tyre and planted olive trees in them. The tyres helped stop the encroachment of the desert.

[@falsch4761]

isnt it toxic? Does it leech?

[@godessofyouguess]

Wow why have i never heard of this ? Thank u for sharing

[@lorenzoventura7701]

Learning how to slow down flashfloods will be strategic on a warming planet

[@MrSilviut]

Greening deserts is good. What I’d like to see more of is cover cropping and prairie strip planting where we still have good soil. Only about 8% of US farmland currently uses cover cropping. That’s a dismal rate, not allowing good carbon sequestration and erosion protection, which then leads to more erosion into River, carrying fertilizers into the ocean and reducing oxygen available in the ocean by growth of algae.

[@janras1771]

We need the best brains on the planet to solve these problems🙂

[@Asdfbedffhdsxe345]

This is incredible!! So many interesting solutions here. Excellent video thanks

[@DWPlanetA]

Glad you liked it! Be sure to subscribe for new videos every Friday 🙃

[@verandi3882]

terraforming deserts should be humanity's goal instead of colonizing space

[@samuelross9884]

There used to be hippos, lions, and alligators all across the Sahara thousands of years ago. It used to be grassland mingled with shallow pools, where gazelles would graze. It can be that way again!

[@lukasdutli3473]

That was in the ice age. Yes, the sahar was green, but on the other hand half of Europe and Asia where covered in ice.

[@angelopueyygarcia43]

The earths angle on its axis also played a role in that.

[@tonysykes4333]

@@lukasdutli3473 is not 100% true, there were Lions there and in the Middle East/Asia Minor only about 1000 years ago. Same with Hippos and the other mentioned animals. Hunting, industrialization, and other human involvement changed that. How would you get the tale of the Nemean Lion if they were only in sub-Sahara and India?

[@lukasdutli3473]

@@tonysykes4333 im talking about the sahara, not the animals. During the green Sahara time, Lions, Hippos etc. spread north to Asia and Europe. After the Sahara dried up, those Lions and others already in Europe and Asia stayed there, because climate was still liveable.

[@sami3566]

@@lukasdutli3473 not in the ice age but rather in the holocene period after the ice age An ice age while make the sahara more dry

[@Heresheis0818]

Stopping unethical commercial farming as soon as possible helps tremendously to contain the occurrence of extreme weather conditions.

[@tonyrandall3146]

Especially animal farming. Watch the governments bleat about muh growth, muh exports, muh farmers and producers. The farmers they think of aren't old Billy with his flock, but multi-conglomerates, many foreign-owned.

[@Hhenryarero]

Everyone proffesionals is needed in addressing climate change.Its Our collective Responsibilities to Conserve Enviroment

[@Reactionmemes541]

Ya they actually started it well done ....wish all world can learn something from them

[@albertgainsworth]

The ancient Israelites used three flat rocks. They set them in a depression in the desert soil, tilted so that a rough hole was formed at the bottom. Overnight the desert air is very cold, but contains some moisture. The moisture condense on the rock and drips down toward the rough "hole" in the bottom where a seed is planted. It seems like a useful technique to me. Is it being uses today?

[@willm5814]

I can't think of any activity that gets to the root of so many problems as growing food in a sustainable way (e.g. permaculture), in places like the Sahel - doing so reduces conflict, reduces immigration, increases family stability hence more productive people, reduces global warming, improves health, reduces healthcare costs....

[@gravital2257]

I can think of one, don't have 10 babies per family when your soil can't make enough food for them.

[@wxrriorog3096]

I from greece and the Sahara sand storms affects even us who are hundreds of kilometres away

[@red-eyedatlas9119]

i've tried thinking of how at one point to try to bring some land from desert to forrested, but i never knew any possible way to actually do it, it seemed so unlikely a thing to do. I'm glad to see that someone else could do what I didn't think could be done.

[@EarnestBunbury]

Some time ago, I’ve heard, that greening desserts may be good for the local trees and animals, but that it would be an overall bad thing for earth‘s temperature overall, as deserts reflect way more sunlight than a green area. Is that true?

[@sergiubarac1265]

Plants and trees produce oxygen and that would lower the temperature on the planet.

[@Daelsky]

I believe it not a zero sum system. Trees and ecosystems will probably have a negative carbon effect overall, especially on the long term.

[@setcheck67]

@@sergiubarac1265 No Alexander is correct. The term he's referring to is Albedo and the deserts are so good at it that they drastically reduce the overall climate temperature significantly more than any vegetation could. Imagine sand and ice as being a mirror and you just reflect sunlight back, it's basically that. There is even a megastructure idea that could negate global warming by literally building centimeter thick mirrors in space that rotate around the planet like the moon. It would look like strange black moons always in the sky to us, but it's existence would drop temperatures 5 degrees. Problem is the mirrors need to be massive or their needs to be thousands of them. Technically this is still possible even by todays technology though.

[@eduardopacheco923]

@@setcheck67 but what about the materials to build such a structure? If it's masive mirrors probably the main resource would be sand, to make the glass of the mirrors, so maybe in a possible future sand is removed from the deserts to make that kind of structure, and then, lands left with no sand could flood or be turned into new forests (that If the mirrors don't block that many sunlight off of the area )

[@EarnestBunbury]

@@setcheck67 this would also cause much carbon emission, as you would need to bring them into the atmosphere and maintain them , so they would need to be huge. I wonder, if farmers and tourism would be okay with that. Yea n general, those sectors may even benefit from the earth‘s problems

[@sanjaykumar-wh9ej]

It's just nuts the video is fab You know what you, your video, your channel deserves much more views and subscriber's (take it in that way so that it sense about like &subscriber stuff) You are tooooooooooooo good Juts loved it

[@lynnleigha580]

It is possible to fix what was broken, if everyone comes together and helps, they'd be surprised at what can happen, they can stop the droughts and famon

[@tonyrandall3146]

Everyone won't come together, because there are vested interests out there that don't want anything to really change.

[@BroAnarchy]

.... Well, that ... , And lots of money. That $20 trillion Sahara project ain't going to pay for itself

[@nneichan9353]

Humans everywhere need to know how to prevent desertification.

[@Anil18834]

Thanks for bringing this issue to my attention. Excellent piece.

[@Shura3]

Just love what you are doing!! And sorry about Russia shutting down your studio over there. Take care everyone and KEEP GOING!!

[@DWPlanetA]

Don't forget to subscribe to our channel. We have a new video coming out every Friday!

[@shadowgirl11]

I quite like this channel. As someone who studied environmental psychology it is nice to see the use of experts and how there is a solution to the problem. If you haven’t yet subscribe !!

[@atharvakodape6647]

Greening the parts of land that have been invaded by the desert is ok, but planting trees in area as significant as ⅕ of the Sahara is actually a problem. As we know, darker shades absorb light and lighter shades reflect light. Same goes with land. Ice reflects a lot if light, just like yellow sand. However black rocks, brown soils absorb more light, that means heat. This is called albedo of Earth. Greening substantial parts of Sahara will decrease the albedo and cause more heat to be trapped.

[@LemberTheMember]

More evaporation of water caused by plants will also increase the amount of clouds formed over that area. Clouds reflect allot of sunlight too. More plantmass means more captured CO2 which reduces the impact of CO2 in the atmosphere. But yeah sand is a pretty good reflector so my theory might be wrong.

[@jorgecanales798]

These are all great ideas, and I also have some other possible ways to combat desertification. One way will be planting cacti, specifically prickly pear cacti or Opuntias and use them as a food source for both humans and livestock. People in Mexico and Texas have done this for centuries. Another thing that can be done with the cacti so it won't become so invasive is to use it as a water source for newly planted native plants. Meaning when the people are planting native plants, to bury cactus pads with the root balls (deep enough so the pads won't root) and as the cactus decomposes the roots of the native plants uses that moisture. Another way to combat water evaporating from the soil is mulching and using organic fertilizers (animal manure) organic matter mixed with the sand desert soil can become a great moisture holding soil

[@vickydandu4322]

Thank you for contribution towards educating us

[@DWPlanetA]

Have you thought of ways that we can save the earth's soil?

[@Joe90V]

Seaweed cultivation, creating composts from waste food, irrigation by solar powered desalinated water, are just three that spring to mind. Cattle, sheep, horse manure. Insect propagation. Must be loads more?

[@Joe90V]

Every winter in my area, the council allow fallen leaves to become a paste on the roads as traffic drives over them, which then gets washed down the drains. I always think if they were collected and added to a municipal compost, they would have something to sell to gardeners perhaps replacing peat. Seems to me that short term cost cutting is driving the degradation of our systems.

[@whisperingsage89]

A focus on soil microbes and fungi, which keep soils full of nutrients for plants to use.

[@somerandomfella]

Get rid of governments, greedy corporations, commercial fishing & farming for starters.

[@NirvanaFan5000]

I don't know how organic waste is treated in many of those places. But it'd be cool if they could gather up organic waste and just dump it in the desert for a few years to rot and rejuvinate the soil - like the orange peel experiment in costa rica.

[@Domihork]

I'm glad you mentioned that deserts are also ecosystems worth of protecting. Yes, stop desertification, but don't green whole deserts. Sahara is especially important for fertilizing the Amazon Forest. No Sahara -> no Amazon.

[@michaelraith9481]

Just look at the US in the 1920s. Overfarming and bad practices led to sand storms and lowkey desertification. Better farming practices and most importantly, willingness from farmers and the local population to spend their money and time made it possible to recover areas that were destroyed by bad farming and land cultivation practices. If there is no willingness from the locals to adapt there will be no change. It is a good thing, that more and more environmentalists focus on also convincing people because that makes a project future-proof.

[@-k5703]

Sad how our planet is mostly water but that water can't be used as resource to tackle this issue. These reaserach and projects are amazing but I hope eventually there will be a break through technology which will circulate ocean water as a completely clean purified drinkable water which can be used for agricultural and greening purpose

[@red-baitingswine8816]

There are centuries of nuclear waste and millions of years of thorium waiting for existing, new, developed, clean, safe forms of nuclear fission - unlimited stores of energy for all these projects.

[@vannrothmo7127]

This is very satisfying to watch!

[@TheSkystrider]

Why is this titled can we stop deserts from growing? Don't we want deserts to have vegetation growth? Oh wait it's ambiguous... Title is referring to deserts expanding in size. I thought it meant growing vegetation.

[@OldHatIdeas]

With the solar power in the Sahara thing. Wouldn't that work if we just put reflective or black slabs of anything out there? That seems fast and cheap and then you could replace them with solar over time while creating tons of benefits for your project and an incredible reputation.

[@superspooky4580]

We need to coat the entire Sahara with white paint pretty much. Reflect all that sunlight away. It would be interesting to see the effect on weather patterns. Having such a large area near the equator that reflects 95% of the light that hits it will make the whole region much more wet and active

[@chubs2312]

I think what they are saying is bogus. Someone wants a contract to build the solar panels so they need all the good reasons to motivate their bid

[@gcc2313]

I think it might be an issue for planes etc potentially if it's too reflective. I think reforestation projects will be among the most effective. solar panels and other materials can help and provide energy, but smaller areas should suffice. At the end of the day they don't create food for humans and animals. Plants hold water, their roots reduce corrosion, they respirate and have additional benefits. If properly managed it also gives wood and other resources, and allow farming. And they can store some co2 and other pollutants.

[@knoll9812]

​@@gcc2313solar panel idea is ridiculous when cheaper and available methods exist. Sharing process to grow crops and protect soil in the areas that are desertifying

[@HCEllwine]

I think we need creative leaders with a good cash flow to develop these areas in ways we don't know yet. I think we have potential to do more than be a burden to the planet.

[@eduardopacheco923]

Or maybe a fundraising campaign such as teamseas or teamtrees, but about a thousand times bigger

[@abdebee3221]

Why always hope for good leaders. The system makes them bad before they take the lead. The become greedy on their way. Give power to the people!

[@raerohan4241]

@@abdebee3221 It's because leaders in those areas have a lot more power than in other regions. This can be bad, of course, but it can also be good. Of course it's important that people help as well, but in the current climate, it's faster and easier to get leaders on board with these efforts as well

[@abdebee3221]

@@raerohan4241 I agree with you! It's just not going to work that we rely on leaders only. WE need to make the first steps, leader can only join or follow..

[@crackboi6003]

it's CO2 more CO2 leads to greening of the deserts and the world as a whole 10% greening in the last 3 decades warmer also means more plant growth

[@tracesprite6078]

There is something wrong with the idea of solar panels making the air go upwards. Heat already makes the air go upwards but, if there is no moisture up in the sky, then no rain will come down. However it seems to be working and making some areas greener so there must be something extra that I'm missing.

[@LV-ei1ce]

Such an interesting video !

[@iszotic]

Are you sure the reforestation in China is not the same as Saudi Arabia? I have heard these trees are not suited for the desert and are sucking up the aquifers eventually drying up.

[@dustypan83]

When changing weather other areas would be affected I would believe. Whether it be negative or positive I’m pretty sure it would affect neighboring lands. Maybe even otherwise.

[@raerohan4241]

@@null643 Human activities already change the Earth - in a negative way. Stuff like this is just an attempt to reverse the damage and return things to the way they were. Also, we are a part of nature - it's the height of arrogance to think that humans are distant from it.

[@HamoTheUltimate]

@@null643 what is there to heal in a 6000 km² desert? Its already dead. This is helpful work

[@raerohan4241]

@@null643 It needs time to do that. Unfortunately human activities are changing conditions too fast for this to be possible. If we continue to do nothing, nature will still balance itself - but humans and many, many other species will not be around to witness it.

[@Ruby_Mochii]

I'm not fully aware of the consequences and would like to comparatively decide based on pros and cons. We may want to change things but it may not always be a good thing..

[@Ashwin_1198]

It won't be a good thing, for sure.... Whatif has made a video on this

[@raerohan4241]

The Sahara desert continues to expand by the day. It's not that people want to erase the Sahara, their main concern is to stop its spread. The next concern is to re-green the areas which became desertified due to extreme deforestation. Both of these objectives are meant to meet the overall goal of improving the lives of the locals who live there, and to alleviate the negative effects of climate change

[@mohannair5671]

Both informative and inspirational. Kindly keep up the fantastic work!!!!!

[@charlesc5157]

No drama, no politics, no agendas, straight up facts, good job DW

[@miskee11]

The answer is to create entire biomes as barriers and to maintain & grow them forever. Just planting trees and plants is not enough. We need fungal networks (to decompose dead plant mass, for glomalin-based soil aggregation etc.) and a self-sustaining network of wildlife ranging from the microscopic realm all the way to insects, birds and mammals. We need biodiversity and continuity. Creating ecosystems like this is possible and it has been done before, but to combat large-scale desertification, effort is required on a much grander scale. It would be an immensely expensive and complicated project to pull off, but it is very achievable. Most seeds don't end up completing their full life cycle in the wild, but with human intervention every single seed can receive protection and nurturing from sapling to tree, and this idea can be expanded further into birthing and taking care of entire forests. All we need is a truckload of philantropic billionaires or a consortium of governments and/or businesses to set up a task force to combat this issue in perpetuity. This isn't something we can just fix and forget about -- no, we need a continuous, steadfast and extensive multi-national effort to keep the deserts in check. This means the project would start out expensive and it would go on being expensive for as long as it would continue. The bulk of these expenses would consist of 1) logistics fees, 2) equipment purchases, 3) material costs, 4) field experts' payments, and 5) administrative & legal payments. But... Since for anything to actually happen in this world we've created, it would have to make "economic sense", i.e. it would have to be profitable in some measurable way. This is the actual problem here, and I don't see a solution for this. Perhaps if some of the desert-turned-green was used for permaculture farming we'd get something out of it, but I think we'd just screw that up too. Humanity sucks. We'll just focus on building cities and factories instead. It's more economically viable to completely eradicate nature.

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Wrong. Humanity creates solutions.

[@kishusharma7719]

I'd love to join a force like this.

[@knoll9812]

We need carbon credits for restored landscapes Capturing carbon should be rewarded

[@michaelmayhem350]

The sahara desert fertilizes the Amazon and Caribbean jungles. Replanting that desert would have a catostrophic impact on the western hemisphere & likely on the world as a whole.

[@eduardopacheco923]

How does the Sahara desert fertilize lands across the atlantic? I don't get it

[@sylphe18]

@@eduardopacheco923 NASA saw the dust clouds from Sahara travel to Amazon.

[@bisratbeyene3980]

The Amazon and the Caribbean is already fertile land, regardless Sahara expansion need to be stopped

[@TorreFernand]

we're not talking about replanting the whole thing, we're talking about covering no more than one fifth with solar panels and planting the edges

[@llejk]

I don’t get why people oppose fertilization of the sahara desert. So much that they even make up unreasonable stuff like that. And even if that ridiculous claims where true. Right now we are talking about *stopping* desertification.

[@harriskhan7671]

amazing video to save the earth.

[@aparnadhar732]

This is very helpful video.

[@marcoguidetti2413]

No mention of regenerative agriculture or permaculture???

[@frenchiepowell]

Without change, after we terraform Mars we'll have to turn around and terraform Earth again. With change, we won't need Mars.

[@TorreFernand]

So let me get this straight: the "loss of reflectivity" threat we've been so worried about if we cover "too much" of the sahara desert in solar panels, is bogus because as soon as we do, there will be less sahara desert?

[@tizianobrombin8516]

Great informations! Thanks. Keep doing it.

[@DWPlanetA]

Cheers, more to come! ✨ Please subscribe to our channel to receive new videos on environment every Friday! 🏵

[@chandrasenramdinmulliah1521]

Great video!!! Hats off

[@DWPlanetA]

Hi Chandrasen, thanks a ton! 😊

[@logosmaxima2775]

It's all about the money. We have had the capability to halt or even overturn dessertification for years, but it is costly. Coupled with other problems, internal and external, the choice is easy.

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@crackboi6003]

it's CO2 more CO2 leads to greening of the deserts and the world as a whole 10% greening in the last 3 decades warmer also means more plant growth

[@fal_pal_]

The examples that seem to be the most promising here are when climate solutions are given to smaller communities to implement. An important aspect of restoration is to think about how to empower communities to steward the land, give them the power and authority and tools to do so. Corporations and warring govts are vampires in these scenarios.

[@agneteht]

One of the interesting things about this is that it is partly about reversing traditional engineering practices. Traditionally (and still applied in many places) rivers have been dragged and cleared for fast movement of water to avoid flooding. However today's changed understanding means we understand that in arid regions flooding and slowing water is vital to ensure water infiltration and that speeding runoff is not in fact helping but harming communities inthe long run. The problem is getting that new perspective into organisations that have spent a lifetime doing the opposite of what they are now asked to do is quite difficult.

[@applez3015]

Were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain. (Surat al-Tur, 53:34) If you have ever wondered the absolute truth to reality than Islam is it , it answers all the questions to life of why we were created , where we are going and where we came from. Allah the absolute one creator of the everything sent prophets and messengers from Adam , Noah, Abraham , Musa , Jesus and the last Prophet Muahmmad peace be upon all of them to tell us our purpose of life and that is as the Quran states : And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone) (Quran 51.56) Islam is the religion of absolute monotheism and I invite you to islam to worship the absolute one creator and not idols , humans or spirits who they themselves depend on the creator. I would tell you to read the Quran first as the first step . Have they not reflected upon their own being? Allah only created the heavens and the earth and everything in between for a purpose and an appointed term. Yet most people are truly in denial of the meeting with their Lord!(30:8) We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?” - 41:53 “And a sign for them is the dead earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain, and from it they eat. - 36:33

[@eddiethinhvuong1607]

Been watching a couple videos about regeenifying our planet, and one thing that suprised me the most is that our ancestors had so many agricultural techniques and methods to battle extreme weathers and terrains. And now we're reusing those methods for our own good without the need to completely reinvent the wheel. How cool is that?

[@leelindsay5618]

Regenerative agriculture can actually reverse desertification and improve soil health with soil health principles. There is a channel on youtube called Understanding Ag is helping people learn about soil health.

[@danielwatson4864]

We can reverse worldwide desertification by A: mixing different soil types (sand/clay, sand/gravel) to stabilize the soil. B: prevent a certain amount of sealevel rise by taking & melting polar ice to the major desert of the world. C: mixing wood chips or shredded bark in with desert soils.

[@crackboi6003]

just produce more CO2 more CO2 leads to greening of the deserts and the world as a whole the sahara is actually shrinking

[@WhatHappenedIn-vt3vq]

@@crackboi6003 Just more C02 doesn't work for the global sphere. This persons idea would be much better for the deserts quickly without causing devastating damage to everybody else all of those would improve storage capacity for soil

[@danielwatson4864]

@@crackboi6003 producing more CO2 without planting more greenery would be disastrous!

[@jessicastone7329]

​@@crackboi6003only if there is f***ing water and proper growing temperatures....which f****ing CO2 is destroying....it's quite a simple GD concept man....

[@Jokerwolf666]

This definitely can be done and should be done we at the very least owe the planet something. We just have to make sure that the ocean isn't getting our nutrients it's causing algae that's killing wildlife.

[@JimmyA459]

Covering 1/5 of the Sahara and greening it would absolutely have unintended consequences... Algae blooms would absolutely suffer, minerals in Amazon etc. Always think these initiatives miss this? Or maybe the video needs to look at that?

[@applez3015]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

[@sweetblueman]

Very informative..countering desertification..

[@tiwariji3763]

love it once again after 9 month,appreciative inititiative

[@LuisEduardodeSouza]

The videos are great, but the soundtrack and sound in general are really bad. It would be nice to invest on better production.

[@rudicxcs9457]

I liked the sound on this one

[@stein6707]

Imagine telling a state-owned channel to increase their investment

[@animalrescuer80]

This is the best video. Thanks to these wonderful scientists saving the 🏜️