Green Walls will save China from sandstorms?

The Chinese government has launched an ambitious plan called "The Great Wall of Green City", to improve the living environment in the cities of the country.

Over the past few decades, China has attempted to build a "great city with trees" to prevent the effects of the Gobi desert. This idea was initially criticized, but later research showed that these measures are working.

Every spring, when the wind from the North carries sand from the Gobi desert, China is devastated by sandstorms. As the desert expands, the situation becomes more serious. In 1978, Beijing decided to implement the Green Great Wall (GGW) program, which included a series of large forests planted to prevent the expansion of the Gobi desert.

Workers planting trees to prevent sandstorms from Mu Us desert in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China.

In 2006, about 25 million hectares of forest were newly planted in China. By 2050, more than 100 billion trees will form a green belt of 4,500km long, with an area of ​​about 4.1 million square kilometers, accounting for more than 1/10 of China's area.

Critics say the final plan will also fail. Dr. Hong Jiang of the University of Hawaii said: 'Instead of controlling nature, we should follow it.' Some scientists think that planting trees in the Gobi desert will not succeed, because The rate of dead trees is very high.

However, the latest study by Dr. Minghong Tan and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the GGW program's measures are working.

'Research results show that the proportion of trees in the GGW region has increased significantly, while this green carpet is growing outside the project area , ' the team said. The green belt has significantly reduced the intensity of sandstorms.

While the overall situation seems to be improving, some small areas still do not make progress. Some scientists warn the project could take hundreds of years to repel desertification.

In 1934, US President Roosevelt launched the initiative to build the Great Plains Green Shelterbelt belt project to prevent sandstorms in central America. By 1942, 220 million trees were planted, extending 19,900km from the Brazos River in Texas to Canada. The project was very successful. But the lack of care today makes some strong sandstorms come back.