The Green Sahara

A thoughtful exploration of how the Sahara Desert can be returned to its former glory as a green paradise while actively combating climate change.

A green Sahara is something the world has not seen since 10,000 BC when the Sahara was a wet, lush region. Grasslands, woodlands, tropical forests, and wetlands, the natural plant bounty of the ancient Sahara, provided residents with enormous flocks of birds, fish in abundance, indigenous grains and herds of wild game. By 3,000 BC though the climate changed, the rains stopped, and the ancient green Sahara dried into todayâs desert. It had been the victim of a phenomenon that reminds us today of global climate warming, a tragedy that we have unwittingly brought upon ourselves. But what if we could reverse the desertification of the Sahara, and bring back the green paradise of days passed?

In The Green Sahara: Reclaiming Paradise in the Face of Climate Change, John Gaudet explores the process by which climate change in ancient times converted a green paradise into an arid desert land, highlighting parallels to what is happening in our time. But he also illuminates how an intense effort to create green energy is being made by several Saharan countries to build and operate enormous solar and wind farms. As a result, a wave of green energy generated in the Sahara, the largest desert on earth, is about to swamp the world, and could lead to a regreening of the Sahara Desert. If a new green Sahara happens, how will the world benefit?

Covering just 20% of the Sahara Desert with wind turbines and solar panels would generate almost five times more energy than is currently needed worldwide. Gaudet highlights further benefits of regreening the Sahara by deploying climate technology to the desert such as sequestering large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and eliminating negative health and ecosystem effects felt worldwide from desert dust. Gaudetâs manifesto demonstrates how, in this fascinating case, climate change induced by man actually has the power to save the world and restore a beautiful piece of ancient history.