4 ms·

> “It’s a dry area, so our interest is to bring back the rains. That seems...very optimistic.

• bluGill 9y ago
  Maybe, maybe not. Trees release moisture into the air (their roots gather this moisture from deep in the ground) which condenses into rain. So long as you get enough water from outside trees will increase the recycling of that water in the local area resulting in more rainfall than no trees. This only works in specific situations though. I don't know if applies to the climate in India.
  • hinkley 9y ago
    This interaction supposedly exists around Kilamanjaro. Seems reasonable to expect the same from the Himilayas. But Bangalore? Sounds iffy.
  • 24gttghh 9y ago
    I was hoping someone would reply with the specifics that the article ignored, thank you :)
• schiffern 9y ago
  It's not as crazy as it sounds. About 80% of continental rainfall is caused by trees recycling fallen rain water in the soil back up into the atmosphere. http://www.nature.com/articles/nature11983 http://www.nature.com/articles/nature11983 Obviously the specifics of the implementation depends on local geography and hydrology, but re-planting trees is pretty much the only economically/thermodynamically plausible way to "bring back rains" (eg desalination is way too expensive). So yeah, they're actually onto something.