The great Gobi desert of China is a paleontologists dream. Since I first read of the early 20th century dinosaur egg discoveries in it’s arid tracks, I’ve had an interest in the people and environment of the Gobi.
Now the spread of the desert is causing great problems to people not accustomed to the desert.. they live on the edges, in the grasslands and herd animals.
Perhaps a great planting campaign of cactus might help. It would give food for the goats and the people…. the cactus plants will survive in the heat… and the plants might well trap some of the blowing sand and organic debris… in time it might lead to deeper soils and a larger mass of plants, perhaps on the scale of thousands of acres this might help release enough water vapor to change the local environment.
MSNBC has a great article on the hazards the Gobi now faces…