I imagine it would take a very serious effort to green up a hard desert like that, but it is well known that forests are capable of generating rain through phot

I imagine it would take a very serious effort to green up a hard desert like that, but it is well known that forests are capable of generating rain through photosynthesis and evapotranspiration. Some large scale projects have already been undertaken, such as the restoration of the loess plateau in China, or the currently ongoing effort to establish a green belt across Africa to stop the Sahara desert from spreading southward.