SCIENCE ALERT - One of the driest regions in the world is being transformed into a carbon sink through a long-term, large-scale tree planting program, absorbing more greenhouse gases than it emits.
It's the result of almost five decades of work around the edges of the Taklamakan Desert in northwestern China, and evidence that with the right levels of funding and stability, these afforestation projects can – by some measures – be successful.
The changes at the desert's borders were evaluated by a team of scientists from the United States and China, who used several years of satellite sensor data modeling to analyze CO2 levels, vegetation cover, and weather patterns.
Where large tropical forests like the Amazon readily attract attention as carbon sinks, findings such as this reinforce the contributions smaller bands of trees and shrubs can make. The researchers suggest other deserts could be transformed in the same way.
"This is not like a rainforest in the Amazon or Congo," says King-Fai Li, an atmospheric scientist from the University of California, Riverside. "Some afforested regions are only shrublands like Southern California's chaparral."