When I was at school there was a process called desertification occurring causing increasing desert. Now it seems the opposite is happening. Which might be good. But I wonder is the world getting greener because of the increased CO2 or is it because the ice is melting and that land is getting more green?
Or is this all misinformation and have I been misled/misunderstood?
In: Earth Science
Desertification isn’t because plants don’t have enough CO2. It’s because when plants get cleared out (usually by human activity), they can no longer hold topsoil in place. Topsoil retains moisture and gives plants a chance to start growing, so it’s necessary to grow most new plants. Once the topsoil blows away in the wind, plants can no longer establish themselves there, which means there’s no way to make new topsoil, and so you have a stable, permanent patch of desert. Adding extra CO2 does nothing to stop this.
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