Initially it was difficult for me to consider mentioning this video because it’s a TED talk … and they have been winding down for many years. However this one is a good talk which touches on an important subject: desertification – the transformation of fertile earth into sandy desert. The following image presented during the video took even me (=someone who is involved in reversing desertification) by surprise:
I was “used” to the idea of desertification from living in Israel and I knew it was common throughout the middle-east. I did not imagine that it described over two-thirds of the planet. I particulary noted that even our still-green part of the world (Romania) is fading into a brownish color … which coincides with what we see on the ground here too.
I was very amused that it took a scientist 40 years (and by his admission 40,000 dead elephants) to reach conclusions which to me sound very much in line with Permaculture’s rotational grazing (which is so deeply ingrained in its teachings that it is duh!-obvious [= a high level of obviousness] to me … even though I haven’t yet grazed a single animal … which is, despite having plenty of space, because I haven’t yet been able to provide a proper rotational grazing system!). Anyways, it’s great that academics are catching up and spreading the word: