3 ms·
This article is a bit light on substance. The meat of it appears to be the following: Satellite photos show decline in vegetative cover in the Sonoran desert b
by mythrwy 5y ago
This article is a bit light on substance.
The meat of it appears to be the following: Satellite photos show decline in vegetative cover in the Sonoran desert between 1984 and 2017.
Therefore" `Dryland ecosystems "may be more susceptible to climate change than expected,"`
Has the temperature of the Sonoran desert changed significantly enough in that period of time to explain this decreased vegetation? Doubtful. How about rainfall? Maybe, likely not.
So what has changed in the Sonoran desert in the last 30 years? One thing right off the bat, a massive influx of people as the Phoenix/Tucson areas have grown tremendously.
Maybe that is something to look at? Is there more human activity (for example ATVs) in these fragile habitats? More air pollution (yes there is that). More of something else?
To really show warming was causing this decrease in vegetation they would need to show a mechanism that caused it to occur. And quantify it. i.e "Palo Verde trees die when the average nighttime temperature is above XX or annual rainfall is below YY". But nope, they don't do that.