Sahara Desert: Study shows how vegetation can be improved
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precipitation also increased as much as 0.25 millimeters per day on average in regions with wind farm installations1 a study has shown that a massive wind and solar installation in the sahara desert and neighbouring sahel would increase local temperature precipitation and vegetation thus benefiting the region1 wind and solar farms are known to have local effects on heat humidity and other factors that may be either beneficial or detrimental to the regions in which they are situated1 the wind and solar farms simulated in the study would cover more than nine million square kilometers and generate on average about three terawatts and 79 terawatts of electrical power respectively1 in 2017 the global energy demand was only 18 terawatts so this is obviously much more energy than is currently needed worldwide li said1 the model revealed that wind farms caused regional warming of near-surface air temperature with greater changes in minimum temperatures than maximum temperatures1 the greater nighttime warming takes place because wind turbines can enhance the vertical mixing and bring down warmer air from above according to the study1 according to its lead author li yan a postdoctoral researcher in natural resources and environmental sciences at the university of illinois thestudy is among the first to model the climate effects of wind and solar installations while taking into account how vegetation responds to changes in heat and precipitation1 this was a doubling of precipitation over that seen in the control experiments li said1 in the sahel average rainfall increased 1.12 millimeters per day where wind farms were present1 this increase in precipitation in turn leads to an increase in vegetation cover creating a positive feedback loop said li1 solar farms have a similar positive effect on temperature and precipitation but unlike the wind farms the solar arrays have very little effect on wind speed1 the rainfall increase is a consequence of complex land-atmosphere interactions that occur because solar panels and wind turbines create rougher and darker land surfaces said the papers co-author eugenia kalnay from university of maryland1 the increase in rainfall and vegetation combined with clean electricity as a result of solar and wind energy could help agriculture economic development and social well-being in the sahara sahel middle east and other nearby regions according to the study1