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While true, it's also of course true that much of the desert in the world right now is man-made, a result of desertification due to human activity. The Sahara h
by notafraudster 5y ago
While true, it's also of course true that much of the desert in the world right now is man-made, a result of desertification due to human activity. The Sahara has virtually wiped out the Sahel. Some of this is natural (though, of course, it's debatable whether we want to simply allow "natural" processes) but a lot of it human driven. The Gobi is even worse. Even processes that take place at a breakneck pace are still barely noticeable in a human life, so most people are the prototypical boiled frogs.
And indeed, we learn that Herbert's inspiration for Dune was encroaching desertification in Oregon (largely caused by humans) and the geoengineering efforts to create a green belt to stem the tide.
- z2h-a6n 5y agoGood point! I was mainly thinking of the desert of southern Utah and neighboring states, the subject of the book I quoted, and with which I have personal experience. That region is not free from its own human-caused environmental issues of course, but my understanding is that they are mainly different from the particular problems resulting in desertification in Oregon. I guess a general point that may be worth making is that it's often useful to think in terms of protecting fragile ecosystems, be they desert or the victim of desertification.