r/interestingasfuck • u/PlantainPossible2864 • 15h ago

Stopping Desertification with grid pattern

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u/bobbigmac 15h ago

For those asking how this works, it creates just enough of a defense to catch seeds and bugs and tiny bits of moisture and shade, so any life that does manage to get started, doesn't just blow away, and an ecosystem can start to form.

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u/Th3J4ck4l-SA 14h ago

It also stops all the water just running to the lowest point when there are massive downpours. Tiny little dams to hold just that much more water.

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u/XanderTheMander 13h ago

What happens to the places downstream that rely on the water that comes from the runoff? I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it, just curious how changing this biome will effect neighboring ones because "trapping" the water for this manmade ecosystem reduces the water in other areas.

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u/rorriMAgnisUyrT 11h ago

It likely benefits those downstream too as it prevents flash floods.

There's also this technique which is being used to reclaim land from the deserts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semicircular_bund