5 ms·

Deserts ≠ wastelands. They're home to their own ecosystems.

imoverclocked 4y ago
Yes, they are also very fragile and take a long time to recover. I think solar panels done right could actually help a desert though. Providing shade can allow some plants to thrive but most solar developers aren’t thinking about the ecology of a region.
- lazide 4y ago
  If you’re providing massive amounts of new shade in an ecosystem that normally doesn’t get it, that is going to change things.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Large installations usually come with mandatory ecological impact assessment requirements.
  - imoverclocked 4y ago
    How many of these mandatory impact assessments are identifying ways of improving the ecosystem with their installation? Obviously I don’t mean by by displacing carbon.
chrisbaker98 4y ago
From a purely selfish human point of view, how important are desert ecosystems to the overall health of the planet and the planet's ability to support human life? I feel like sacrificing the deserts to save the rainforests is a trade worth making - but is such a trade even possible, or is it not that simple?
- StanislavPetrov 4y ago
  Deserts are a critical part of our ecosystem just like every other part of the planet. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015GL063040 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/201...
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    This article actually suggests that desertification is a critical part of the Rainforest ecosystem. There are important deserts and there are important grasslands and important forests. It seems a valid point that not all ecosystems are of equal importance.
- justinator 4y ago
  >From a purely selfish human point of view Well that's a point of view that's never steered us wrong.
  - chrisbaker98 4y ago
    Well we've been the dominant species on our planet for tens of thousands of years, so I'd say it's gone pretty well so far.
    - justinator 4y ago
      Pretty well so far for whom? We've initiated a mass global extinction. There wasn't ever a competition to take over the world as a species - no award, no prize - no one and nothing cares. The only way we've done it is by eliminating everything in our path. We've been excellent at justifying eliminating entire ecosystems - when will we stop? Probably right before we've justified eliminating entire countries of people with the weapons of death we've developed by extracting every last resource for the ground by digging it up.

Yes, they are also very fragile and take a long time to recover. I think solar panels done right could actually help a desert though. Providing shade can allow some plants to thrive but most solar developers aren’t thinking about the ecology of a region.

lazide 4y ago
If you’re providing massive amounts of new shade in an ecosystem that normally doesn’t get it, that is going to change things.
jacquesm 4y ago
Large installations usually come with mandatory ecological impact assessment requirements.
- imoverclocked 4y ago
  How many of these mandatory impact assessments are identifying ways of improving the ecosystem with their installation? Obviously I don’t mean by by displacing carbon.

chrisbaker98 4y ago

From a purely selfish human point of view, how important are desert ecosystems to the overall health of the planet and the planet's ability to support human life? I feel like sacrificing the deserts to save the rainforests is a trade worth making - but is such a trade even possible, or is it not that simple?

StanislavPetrov 4y ago
Deserts are a critical part of our ecosystem just like every other part of the planet. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015GL063040 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/201...
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  This article actually suggests that desertification is a critical part of the Rainforest ecosystem. There are important deserts and there are important grasslands and important forests. It seems a valid point that not all ecosystems are of equal importance.
justinator 4y ago
>From a purely selfish human point of view Well that's a point of view that's never steered us wrong.
- chrisbaker98 4y ago
  Well we've been the dominant species on our planet for tens of thousands of years, so I'd say it's gone pretty well so far.
  - justinator 4y ago
    Pretty well so far for whom? We've initiated a mass global extinction. There wasn't ever a competition to take over the world as a species - no award, no prize - no one and nothing cares. The only way we've done it is by eliminating everything in our path. We've been excellent at justifying eliminating entire ecosystems - when will we stop? Probably right before we've justified eliminating entire countries of people with the weapons of death we've developed by extracting every last resource for the ground by digging it up.