Crowded Deserts: CO2 Fertilization Effects on Forest Growth, 2010

Every historical period has its religion and myths. Nowadays our trimurti is: environment (Brama), sustainability (Vishnu), climate change (Shiva). As in every religion and every myth there are also devils; in our modern vision, devils are economic development, fossil oil burning, and greenhouse effect. The last devil is destroying biodiversity or life, but sometimes humans are even worst devils, destroying natural resources for short terms advantages. If it is not given for granted that humans are the principal or unique reason for climate change, nevertheless it is sure that increasing temperatures will modify biodiversity, nature distribution and also our life styles, so some adaptations are required. For sure, more desertification is foreseen, but we will demonstrate that even without climatic conditions human beings are modifying the environment, since they did it from the very first moment they appeared on earth. For that, we would apply the term desert not only to dry or warm areas, but in a larger sense, to areas void of vegetation, even if they are plenty of inhabitants, activities, civilizations effects, business etc… because plants are destroyed for these emergences, in order to leave free spaces to be exploited for economic profits, so buildings, walls, stones, highways reflect with more intensity the sun radiations. Given the increased temperatures, whose many causes, pertaining not only to the earth and oceans, but to the atmosphere, to the sun, are so interlinked that it is difficult to clarify the single rules, it is agreed that vegetation can offset global warming. Due to the population growth, connected to development growth, vegetation is destroyed in greater proportion, but, at the same time we are more in need of it, not only for climatic reasons, but for leisure, health and aesthetic reasons too. At this point the physics of the atmosphere could pass the scepter to the urban planning, the territorial management, the leisure business, because trees are useful for many ends, the last but not least among them is recreation, or green, rural, mountain, maritime tourisms. Trees plantation would also counteract the coasts destruction already done at the worst level on numerous coasts, especially on old resorts, particularly along the Mediterranean coasts.