Wind and solar farms can make their own weather, including extra rain over the Sahara
You already know that using solar and wind power can influence the climate by reducing our dependence on heat-trapping fossil fuels. Now scientists say these renewable forms of energy can change the climate more directly — and do it in ways that might surprise you.
If wind turbines and solar panels were deployed across the Sahara, more rain would fall and more plants would grow in the massive African desert, according to research published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.
“Renewable energy can have multiple benefits for climate and sustainable development,” wrote a team led by researchers from the University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science.
Although its theory I can believe any large scale installation may have some effect. The question is though is, bearing in mind weather effects weather elsewhere in an ecosystem, is this a localised positive effect or would it have possible negative consequences elsewhere?
See http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-wind-solar-farms-precipitation-20180906-story.html (hope this link works as I can read it, but it seems to fail within G+).
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You already know that using solar and wind power can influence the climate by reducing our dependence on heat-trapping fossil fuels. Now scientists say these renewable forms of energy can change the climate more directly — and do it in ways that might surprise you.
If wind turbines and solar panels were deployed across the Sahara, more rain would fall and more plants would grow in the massive African desert, according to research published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.
“Renewable energy can have multiple benefits for climate and sustainable development,” wrote a team led by researchers from the University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science.
Although its theory I can believe any large scale installation may have some effect. The question is though is, bearing in mind weather effects weather elsewhere in an ecosystem, is this a localised positive effect or would it have possible negative consequences elsewhere?
See http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-wind-solar-farms-precipitation-20180906-story.html (hope this link works as I can read it, but it seems to fail within G+).
Los Angeles Times - We are currently unavailable in your region
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our ...
from Danie van der Merwe - Google+ Posts https://ift.tt/2NqMw18
via IFTTT
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