I read recently that China had created large areas of desert in their country by over clearing, and that they had begun to try to rehabilitate these areas by reafforestation.
The results were staggering, in just a few years the fast-growing, drought tolerant species they used had contributed to the water cycle so much that rainfall increased by 100 mm a year, and the incidence of sandstorms was cut by two thirds.
In Australia, where most of the country is desert, it seems crazy that we haven’t tried something similar. In fact, we seem to be hurtling in the opposite direction. You only have to look at our region where the remnants of our forests are being removed for development, and then there are the agricultural areas out west, where it is still open season on anything tall, green and woody.
It seems to me that a really simple fix for our climate woes would be a massive, global tree-plant. Trees are an ideal way to sequester the carbon which is causing so much trouble in our atmosphere.
There is no point waiting until our water supplies start to dry up, like the towns in western Queensland. It is almost too late then. The time to act is now. Go out. Buy a tree. Plant it. Your grandchildren will thank you.
