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OUR BLOG

Discover our articles and our selection of videos to help you understand the issues involved in combating desertification.

Our articles on desert culture

Our selection of videos and documentaries

Climate Change: The Water Paradigm
03:05

Climate Change: The Water Paradigm

In this video, we explore why maintaining a healthy water cycle may be much more important for the health of the climate than people realize. In case you are wondering, I'm not suggesting that the greenhouse effect due to CO2 or methane is insignificant. But I do think that the importance of the water cycle has been grossly under-emphasized, and should occupy a more central position in environmental discourse. Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/Jimi Make a one-time donation: https://paypal.me/JimiSol To engage more with these ideas, visit https://charleseisenstein.org/books/climate-a-new-story/ Visit Charles' YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/user/CharlesEisenstein Music: 'Comedy Quirky Documentary Pizzicato', from audiojungle.net. Used with a valid license. Sources: Water accounts of 60% of the greenhouse effect: J.T. Kiehl and Kevin E. Trenberth, Earth's Annual Global Mean Energy Budget, 1997, page 203. http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/387H/PAPERS/kiehl.pdf Deforestation disrupts the hydrological cycle: M Kravčíket al., Water for the recovery of the climate–A new water paradigm, 2007, page 115. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bashkim_Lushaj3/publication/278676431_conference_proceedings_PRAGUE/data/5582db9c08ae1b14a0a28c4d/conference-proceedings-PRAGUE.pdf#page=127 On water-retention landscapes: DM Revitt, JB Ellis, L Lund, Assessing the impact of swales on receiving water quality, 2018. https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/conference_contribution/Water_retention_landscape_Mini_catchment_approach/9593252
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
03:54

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is an effective way to restore biodiversity and stabilize the climate, but what exactly is it? This video explores three different regenerative practices that have great potential both in food production and in healing the land. Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/Jimi Make a one-time donation: https://paypal.me/JimiSol Spanish Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uac_nX_gYQY To engage more with these ideas, visit https://charleseisenstein.org/climate Visit Charles' YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/user/CharlesEisenstein Music: Dubious Doings by Thomas Howe (used with permission) Sources: Organic Agriculture does more harm than good Searchinger et al., Assessing the efficiency of changes in land use for mitigating climate change, 2018. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0757-z Bacteria Converts Ammonium into Nitrite and Nitrate: Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, Teaming with Microbes, 2006, 48. Myceilium brings water to plants: Ibid, 57. Worms increase water absorption and allow plant roots to penetrate deeper: Ibid, 89. Fertilizer leeches into water: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 2005. http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/05-073.htm Regenerative grazing can sequester carbon: Sanderman et al., Impacts of Rotational Grazing on Soil Carbon in Native Grass-Based Pastures in Southern Australia, 2015. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article%3Fid%3D10.1371/journal.pone.0136157 Regenerative grazing can build soil and reverse desertification: Allan Savory, Holistic Management, 1999, 244. The growth of grass: Global Rangelands, Basics of Grass Growth https://globalrangelands.org/topics/rangeland-ecology/grass-growth Julius Ruechel, The Daily Pasture Rotation, 2009. https://www.grass-fed-solutions.com/pasture-rotation.html Overgrazing leads to erosion, drought, and desertification: Ibanez et al., Desertification due to overgrazing in a dynamic commercial livestock–grass–soil system, 2007. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380007000993 Food forests consist of 7 layers: Toby Hemenway, Gaia's Garden, 2001, 172. Chapters 0:00 Introduction 0:21 What does it actually involve? 0:41 No-Till Farming 1:25 Regenerative Grazing 2:35 Agro-Forestry 3:21 Conclusion
How Plants Cool the Planet
05:16

How Plants Cool the Planet

Climate change is getting pretty scary, but plants can make things better, if we help them help us! Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/jimi Visit my website: https://jimisol.net This video was made with support from Fenwick Foundation. https://fenwickfoundation.org Thanks to the Ecosystem Restoration Alliance for help with research, networking, and serving as a fiscal sponsor to make Fenwick Foundation's donation possible. Music by EddieHoncha, from AudioJungle.net Sources: Most water plants take up comes out through the leaves: https://cid-inc.com/blog/transpiration-in-plants-its-importance-and-applications/ For every molecule of CO2 sequestered, several hundred molecules of water are evaporated: https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/water-uptake-and-transport-in-vascular-plants-103016037/ Temperatures have been measured to be cooler in forests: https://www.google.co.nz/books/edition/A_Trillion_Trees/Cz00EAAAQBAJ?hl=en Plants house condensation-nucleating bacteria: https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1037 When water condenses at cloud level, it releases the heat it absorbed during evaporation: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/condensation-and-water-cycle Up to half of this heat released during condensation radiates back into space: https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/78/2/1520-0477_1997_078_0197_eagmeb_2_0_co_2.xml?tab_body=pdf Clouds create a net cooling effect: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/GlobalClouds/cloudiness2.php Healthy ecosystems absorb water into the soil which replenishes groundwater: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/lara-bryant/organic-matter-can-improve-your-soils-water-holding-capacity Plants sequester carbon and put it underground: https://amazingcarbon.com/PDF/JONES-LiquidCarbonPathway(July08).pdf Sequestered carbon can stay underground for hundreds of years: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/terra-preta The ocean food web is based on plants: https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/aquatic-food-webs Marine ecosystems seed clouds: https://www.publish.csiro.au/EN/pdf/EN07080 Marine ecosystems sequester carbon in the form of shells: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.0891 Tree-planting based on large quantitative targets can backfire: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-018-7131-3 Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:33 Transpiration 1:16 Condensation Nuclei 2:25 Clouds 3:14 Sequestration 3:43 The Ocean 4:19 Conclusion
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