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So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

livescience.com

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Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#71

Post by ramblenode »

NoSalt wrote: post #61

I am left wondering why China is making all of these "green" changes; more renewables, planting trees at the edges of deserts, etc. I mean, I guess it could be altruistic, to help the Earth and it's people. However, I just don't see that kind of attitude coming out of China. So, again, I am left wondering what their angle is. Is it simply to "stick it" to the United States? What is everybody's opinion on this?

Most of China's large projects are actually some type of competition with the US. The Tianjin Grand Bridge was basically built to eclipse the Causeway and showcase China's engineering prowess. The massive Shanghai subway buildout was a direct challenge to New York City's subway hegemony. Those 20+ story pig towers? Totally unnecessary way to do farming, but a source of national pride when compared to the already impressive scale of US factory farming. China is building record numbers of both solar and coal plants, which seem to be at environmental cross-purposes, but it makes sense when you consider they are trying to beat the US at both clean AND dirty energy. It's in the five-year plan.

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#72

Post by netsharc »

NoSalt wrote: post #61

I am left wondering why China is making all of these "green" changes; more renewables, planting trees at the edges of deserts, etc. I mean, I guess it could be altruistic, to help the Earth and it's people. However, I just don't see that kind of attitude coming out of China. So, again, I am left wondering what their angle is. Is it simply to "stick it" to the United States? What is everybody's opinion on this?

> However, I just don't see that kind of attitude coming out of China.

And if it was the US? Well I don't see that attitude from the US of 2025-present, or 2017-2021.

And what about the Europeans? https://geopolitique.eu/en/2026/02/12/the-unravelling-of-the...

At least the Chinese rulers saw how smog was choking Beijing, and maybe they decided to try to technology their way into breathable air, compared to the US ruling class, who'd rather take oil/coal lobbyist money. Or EU ruling class, who liked BMW, VW and Mercedes-lobbyist money...

As a nice side effect, the Chinese tech will be needed all over the world. If you can't rule the world by controlling the oil (by bombs or being friends with Saudis), why not look at the next tech and try to rule that.. Paul Krugman was writing during Dubya's dumb regime how the US was surrendering the lead on climate technology to China...

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#74

Post by mikrotikker »

fhdkweig wrote: post #43
rickcarlino wrote: post #37

Do initiatives like these hurt native desert species?

There is an interesting effect where deserts help rain forests and oceans grow new life. Winds carry desert sands and dust that are rich in iron and phosphorus into the oceans and act as fertilizer. Even lifeless deserts are important to the global ecosystems. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=desert+sands+fertilize+oceans

The Sahara feeds the Amazon.

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#75

Post by raven12345 »

ramblenode wrote: post #71
NoSalt wrote: post #61

I am left wondering why China is making all of these "green" changes; more renewables, planting trees at the edges of deserts, etc. I mean, I guess it could be altruistic, to help the Earth and it's people. However, I just don't see that kind of attitude coming out of China. So, again, I am left wondering what their angle is. Is it simply to "stick it" to the United States? What is everybody's opinion on this?

Most of China's large projects are actually some type of competition with the US. The Tianjin Grand Bridge was basically built to eclipse the Causeway and showcase China's engineering prowess. The massive Shanghai subway buildout was a direct challenge to New York City's subway hegemony. Those 20+ story pig towers? Totally unnecessary way to do farming, but a source of national pride when compared to the already impr…

Unlike the Soviet Union, China did not have much of a competitive mentality towards the United States, because for most of the time China lagged far behind the United States.

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#76

Post by raven12345 »

NoSalt wrote: post #61

I am left wondering why China is making all of these "green" changes; more renewables, planting trees at the edges of deserts, etc. I mean, I guess it could be altruistic, to help the Earth and it's people. However, I just don't see that kind of attitude coming out of China. So, again, I am left wondering what their angle is. Is it simply to "stick it" to the United States? What is everybody's opinion on this?

Because renewable energy can ensure energy security, and afforestation to control desertification can guarantee the amount of arable land, unlike the US, China lacks sufficient agricultural land.

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#77

Post by 0cf8612b2e1e »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #55
culi wrote: post #5

China accounts for more than 25% of the global net increase in leaf area between 2000 and 2017, according to NASA data https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/plants/china-has-pl... China's also been a major supporter of the Great Green Wall of Africa providing technology and funding. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3302068/why-...

Addressing desertification of land is actually pretty smart. It's not pure charity. The land is actually more valuable when it isn't a desert anymore. If the land can support soil and hold water again, it becomes suitable for farming. If you don that sustainably (i.e. don't allow it to turn it back into desert), that adds to the economy. There's a lot of degraded land all over the world that with a little bit of focu…

My favorite story about revitalizing land: company dropped 12,000 tons of (waste) orange peels and left. Decades later and the wasted land has been revitalized after the nutrient infusion.

https://www.sciencealert.com/how-12-000-tonnes-of-dumped-ora...

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#78

Post by Obscurity4340 »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #77
jillesvangurp wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Addressing desertification of land is actually pretty smart. It's not pure charity. The land is actually more valuable when it isn't a desert anymore. If the land can support soil and hold water again, it becomes suitable for farming. If you don that sustainably (i.e. don't allow it to turn it back into desert), that adds to the economy. There's a lot of degraded land all over the world that with a little bit of focu…

My favorite story about revitalizing land: company dropped 12,000 tons of (waste) orange peels and left. Decades later and the wasted land has been revitalized after the nutrient infusion. https://www.sciencealert.com/how-12-000-tonnes-of-dumped-ora...

Orange you glad they got to try that

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#79

Post by b0rtb0rt »

bilsbie wrote: post #40
rickcarlino wrote: post #37

Do initiatives like these hurt native desert species?

I’ve never heard this mentioned but it seems like an environmentalist could support increasing total life on a piece of land vs preserving specific sparse species. I’d rather see a region of land be a thriving rainforest with millions of species vs protecting some specific tree.

have you ever been to a real desert? lots of plants and animals live there

Re: So many trees planted in Taklamakan Desert that it's turned into a carbon sink

#80

Post by 3E8Jn5VjR »

dnautics wrote: post #67
ceejayoz wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real question is the other way around; why isn't the US the world leader in this? China's answer is fairly straightforward - jobs, exports, energy independence, wind/solar is cheaper, and they have 1.3B people who don't want to live in a big polluted desert.

it kinda is? the us and Europe both have had year-on-year raw and trade-corrected negative ghg production, the us has since the obama administration, inclusive of trump I. there are a lot of surprises, for example texas being the #1 state for renewable energy production

Is the year-on-year statement true? The EU’s data seems to show a slight increase in emissions for the US from 2023 to 2024. https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2025
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