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Wind and solar farms are known to have local effects on heat, humidity and other factors that may be beneficial -- or detrimental -- to the regions in which they are situated. A new climate-modeling study finds that a massive wind and solar installation in the Sahara Desert and neighboring Sahel would increase local temperature, precipitation and vegetation. Overall, the researchers report, the effects would likely benefit the region.
The study, reported in the journal Science, is among the first to model the climate effects of wind and solar installations while taking into account how vegetation responds to changes in heat and precipitation, said lead author Yan Li, a postdoctoral researcher in natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois.
"Previous modeling studies have shown that large-scale wind and solar farms can produce significant climate change at continental scales," Li said. "But the lack of vegetation feedbacks could make the modeled climate impacts very different from their actual behavior.
Also at BBC.
Journal Reference:
Yan Li, Eugenia Kalnay, Safa Motesharrei, Jorge Rivas, Fred Kucharski, Daniel Kirk-Davidoff, Eviatar Bach, Ning Zeng. Climate model shows large-scale wind and solar farms in the Sahara increase rain and vegetation. Science, 2018; 361 (6406): 1019 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5629
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:28AM (3 children)
That doesn't explain rainfall in the central US, for example.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday September 08 2018, @03:59AM (2 children)
Yeh... I am in Southern California and note how much water gets dropped out on mountaintops. If you can get the air saturated with water, then send a stream of cold air down, you are gonna drop water, and I believe the arctic air coming down from Canada to the Central America does just that, and stirs up a lot of tornadoes as well. I believe the trick is to get the air saturated with water first.. and that probably involves forests or the ocean... sometimes hundreds of miles away.
I don't believe there's all that much water in the desert, so it's gotta come from somewhere else. In the midwest, I think we are getting a lot of water from airborne Canadian ice sublimation, whereas the Sahara has the Mediterranean Sea nearby... maybe the air currents will blow that moisture laden air over the Sahara, but something has to drop the temperature to wring the water out.
Anything around there that can cause quick pressure drops that will drop the air temp, which will drop the water?
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @06:26AM (1 child)
Something that will drop the air temp?
Hmm, how about night-time? Usually that's cold in a desert.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday September 08 2018, @06:56AM
Good point... maybe not rain.... Dew!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]