Washington: High winds and supplies in the Sahara desert would increase rainfall and vegetation in the world’s largest hot desert. The study, published in the journal Science, is among the first to model the climate impact models of wind and solar centers while focusing on how vegetation responds to changes in heat. is dripping.
“Previous modeling studies have shown that large-scale wind farms and supply can dramatically alter climate change at continental scales,” said Yan Li, a graduate researcher at the University of Illinois at the U.S.
“But the lack of vegetative foods could make the model’s climate impact very different from their actual behavior,” Li said.
The study targeted the Sahara for several reasons, Li said.
“We chose it because it is the largest desert in the world; , “he said.
The wind and solar farms surveyed in the study would cover more than nine million square kilometers and generate, on average, about three terawatts and 79 terawatts of electric power, respectively.
“In 2017, global energy demand was only 18 terawats, so this is far more energy than is currently needed worldwide,” Li said.
The model showed that wind farms caused regional warming of near-surface air temperatures, with greater changes in temperature than lower than maximum temperatures.
“Overnight warming occurs more as wind turbines can strengthen the vertical mix and bring down warmer air from above,” said researchers.
Rainfall also rose by an average of 0.25 millimeters per day in regions with wind farm centers.
“This was doubling rainfall above what was seen in the control tests,” Li said.
In the nearby Sahel, average rainfall increased by 1.12 millimeters per day where wind farms were present.
“This increase in depth, therefore, leads to an increase in vegetation cover, creating a positive feedback loop,” Li said.
Solar farms had a positive effect on temperature and rainfall, the team found. Unlike wind farms, solar panels had little effect on wind speed.
“We found that the installation of large solar and wind farms can bring in more water and stimulate vegetation growth in these regions,” said Eugenia Kalnay, of the University of Maryland in the US.
“The increase in water is due to the complex earth atmosphere interactions that occur as solar panels and wind turbines create a darker and darker ground surface,” Kalnay said.
“The increase in rainfall and vegetation, combined with clean electricity from solar and wind energy, could contribute to agriculture, economic development and social well-being in the Sahara, Sahel, Middle East and other nearby regions,” said Safa Motesharrei of the University of Maryland.MNM MHN