Saturday, August 1, 2009

Sahara Desert Greening Due to Climate Change?

Villagers herd goats near windblown sand dunes in the Sahel region of Niger, North Africa. Vast swaths of North Africa are getting noticeably lusher due to warming temperatures, new satellite images show, suggesting a possible boon for people living in the driest part of the continent. Photograph by Pascal Maitre/NGS

From National Geographic:

Desertification, drought, and despair—that's what global warming has in store for much of Africa. Or so we hear.

Emerging evidence is painting a very different scenario, one in which rising temperatures could benefit millions of Africans in the driest parts of the continent.

Scientists are now seeing signals that the Sahara desert and surrounding regions are greening due to increasing rainfall.

Read more ....

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