Name: サハラ砂漠をテラフォーミングしたら？ (What If We Terraformed the Sahara Desert?)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T10:39:50.000Z
Duration: 4 min 40 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

様態の副詞

the Sahara Desert could  be going green... literally.

Plans are being made to terraform the entire Sahara desert;

changing it from a dry, barren  landscape to a lush green space.

If successful, the transformation could remove

7.6 billion tons of atmospheric carbon yearly.

How could we change the nature of such a vast, isolated landscape?

and here's what would happen if we terraformed the Sahara Desert.

The Sahara desert is 8.6 million km²  (3.32 million mi²) in size.

if you filled America with sand  and took away all of the trees.

Terraforming an area this massive wouldn't be easy,

in fact, it would cost about $2 trillion a year,

and unfortunately, the price tag would  be just the beginning of our obstacles.

What kind of environmental domino effect would this create?

Plants and trees are  the lungs of the Earth,

and right now we could use a lot more of them.

can absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide you would produce

by driving a car for 100,000 kilometers  (62,000 miles).

If we could successfully terraform the Sahara,

it would result in millions of hectares of trees

being added to the battle against climate change.

That all sounds great, but what are the odds we could pull this kind of transformation off?

Believe it or not, we already have, just on a smaller scale.

China's Kubuqi Ecological Restoration  Project saw the successful greening

with 70 different plant species over a 30-year timespan.

How could we scale that up for  the largest hot desert on Earth?

One idea is to plant crops and trees, and then

pump desalinated water from the coast  of the Sahara to irrigate them.

the water would be carried by underground  pipes to reach the roots directly.

The ideal things to plant would be eucalyptus trees since they're hardy,

Plus, they grow quickly and could  be economically beneficial for the region.

As the trees began to root and stabilize,

the soil would be replenished with needed nutrients,

and the overall temperature of the  Sahara would cool by 8°C (14.5°F).

Ok, so with time running out in our fight against climate change,

why aren't we moving faster on such a significant potential solution?

Well first off, did we mention that it would cost $2 trillion a year?

Have fun getting international governments to pitch in on that,

especially if it's just for the  greater good of humanity.

terraforming the Sahara Desert would come with its fair share of issues.

As the region becomes wetter as a  result of millions of new trees being planted,

the swarming pests best known  for their biblical associations.

Wait, locusts can't be that bad, can they?

Well, a small swarm eats more than  what 2,500 people can eat in a day,

However, the biggest problem with terraforming the Sahara

would be the environmental domino effect it would create.

The Sahara's sand gets carried in the air by wind power

and is deposited in South America  after crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The dust picks up moisture during its journey,  and when it falls from the sky –

This dust and rain combo falls on the Amazon rainforest,

helping to fertilize it and providing  the ecosystem the water that it needs.

No Sahara could potentially mean  no more Amazon rainforest

unless someone else steps in  with a plan to avert that crisis.

So even though a green Sahara would lower our carbon emissions,

would it be worth potentially destroying another part of the planet?

Maybe instead of terraforming one giant location,

we should spread our  greening out around the world,

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サハラ砂漠をテラフォーミングしたら？ (What If We Terraformed the Sahara Desert?)

potential

massive

significant

effort