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BBC: Are the deserts getting greener? [View All]

OKIsItJustMe

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Fri Jul-17-09 10:14 PM
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BBC: Are the deserts getting greener?

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8150415.stm

Are the deserts getting greener?

By Ayisha Yahya
BBC, World Service

It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places.

They think vast, dry regions like the Sahara might soon begin shrinking.

The evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat.

It could be that an increase in rainfall has caused this effect.

Farouk el-Baz, director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at Boston University, believes the Sahara is experiencing a shift from dryer to wetter conditions.

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BBC: Are the deserts getting greener? [View All]

Are the deserts getting greener?

It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places.