I have noticed for some time that the desert i came to live in has changed tremendously. When i first started coming here while building our house the sky was vibrant with blue, the whitest of clouds, the clean fresh air. As the years have gone by it is evident that those things are not as first perceived. I know the influx of people, building of many houses and shopping centers and manufacturing has taken it's toll, more cars, buses and trucks have taken away from what was. Knowing these things i presumed that was the reason for the changes. One thing i did not know was in the local newspaper yesterday, another lesson in "things you don't know" category. According to Lynne Fenstermaker, a scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, the Mojave Desert is absorbing more carbon dioxide than once thought. I didn't know it ever had! The Mojave Desert can absorb as much carbon dioxide as a temperate forest. Deserts make up more than 30 percent of the Earth's land surface. If all deserts were as absorbing as much as the Mojave, "then the amount of carbon dioxide taken up each year would match the amount emitted to the atmosphere globally through burning of fossil fuels". Carbon dioxide is absorbed both by plants and micro-organisms in the top layer of the soil. This "macrobiotic crust" contains lichens, mosses, and blue green algae. All of these do some type of photosynthesis, which turns carbon dioxide into sugar, which they can use for food. You wouldn't think the sparse vegetation on the desert would be able to take up so much carbon dioxide, but in an El Nino year, where the deserts get a large amount of rainfall, the population of annuals can be quite high. therefore the more plants the more carbon dioxide they inhale. That answered my "I wonder" question. We now have less vegetation because of the tremendous growth and the clearing off of the land. The only thing that you cannot move off of your property is the Joshua Trees, unless you have a permit and move it to another place to be planted, and there are always those that find a way around that. No more vibrant blue Sky's, the cleanest of air. It is still way better than most places, but through the pictures i have of now and then it is an obvious difference.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A Question Answered
I have noticed for some time that the desert i came to live in has changed tremendously. When i first started coming here while building our house the sky was vibrant with blue, the whitest of clouds, the clean fresh air. As the years have gone by it is evident that those things are not as first perceived. I know the influx of people, building of many houses and shopping centers and manufacturing has taken it's toll, more cars, buses and trucks have taken away from what was. Knowing these things i presumed that was the reason for the changes. One thing i did not know was in the local newspaper yesterday, another lesson in "things you don't know" category. According to Lynne Fenstermaker, a scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, the Mojave Desert is absorbing more carbon dioxide than once thought. I didn't know it ever had! The Mojave Desert can absorb as much carbon dioxide as a temperate forest. Deserts make up more than 30 percent of the Earth's land surface. If all deserts were as absorbing as much as the Mojave, "then the amount of carbon dioxide taken up each year would match the amount emitted to the atmosphere globally through burning of fossil fuels". Carbon dioxide is absorbed both by plants and micro-organisms in the top layer of the soil. This "macrobiotic crust" contains lichens, mosses, and blue green algae. All of these do some type of photosynthesis, which turns carbon dioxide into sugar, which they can use for food. You wouldn't think the sparse vegetation on the desert would be able to take up so much carbon dioxide, but in an El Nino year, where the deserts get a large amount of rainfall, the population of annuals can be quite high. therefore the more plants the more carbon dioxide they inhale. That answered my "I wonder" question. We now have less vegetation because of the tremendous growth and the clearing off of the land. The only thing that you cannot move off of your property is the Joshua Trees, unless you have a permit and move it to another place to be planted, and there are always those that find a way around that. No more vibrant blue Sky's, the cleanest of air. It is still way better than most places, but through the pictures i have of now and then it is an obvious difference.
