Plants Soils and Water Cool the Climate

I am flabbergasted.

This information in FB025 is very impactful! It was published July-2021, but even now in JAN-2025, a simple internet search brings up virtually nothing, and no one, discussing it. FB025 begins with this huge acknowledgment: “The 25th edition enhances our understanding of the interwoven relationships and the subsequent fluxes of energy between plants, soils and water on the ground, as well as in and with the atmosphere. It explains how these can help mitigate climate change, while at the same time creating a resilient ecosystem.”* I know. ‘YAWN.’ It is a technically accurate statement, but so boring. (* FB025, Page 1, Background)

The headline should be:

“The 25th edition tells how changing from desert to green can lower the local temperature by 10°-20°C (18°-36°F). If the hottest places can be cooled by this much, Global Warming can be greatly reduced, and Climate Change can be mitigated.”

Everyone is concerned about Climate Change, but are they listening? According to a landmark report** from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification: “… 77.6% of Earth’s land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period…” If only there was a way to infuse moisture into some deserts, so they may turn green… (** The Global Threat of Drying Lands: Regional and global aridity trends and future projections)

Move the Water!

Oh! Wait! There is a way to infuse moisture into some deserts so they can turn green. This is an initiative promoted by Active Climate Rescue Initiative (ACRI) called ‘Move the Water!’

‘Move the Water!’ can be employed in 11 places around the world, some easier than others. In most of these places full implementation will not be allowed because of disruption of human activity, but partial employment will still have benefits. These 11 places are among the hottest places on our earth. They are deserts and are salted from past evaporated waters. These 11 places are mostly dry and just waiting for water. Each place where this is installed will become cooler, which will have a direct impact on aggregate average global temperature, which is the gauge for global warming.  

The key data.

The key data within FB025 is on page 5, in the section entitled: ‘Re-radiation of bare soil’, where it says that states that “… evaporative cooling effect of forests … outweighs the albedo warming effect generated by the darker forested surfaces.” Figure 7 graphically displays the cooling benefits of plants. Real-world readings are revealed for two places: Indonesian Sumatra and Central Europe with respective results of 10°C and 20°C (18°F and 36°F).

It boils down to this. Because global warming is gauged by the aggregate average global temperature, the most effective work of fighting global warming is accomplished on two fronts, the ecosystems located within the extreme ends of the temperature scale. ACRI contends that work done in the hottest places has more impact than work done in the coldest places, and ‘Move the Water!’ focuses on those places. Cooling the hottest places will have a disproportionately positive effect on the global temperature.

‘Move the Water!’ has multiple benefits, all working to lower local temperatures, all resulting from natural processes which are allowed to work by the simple installation of ocean water into a desert.

Benefits.

Lowered Ocean Level

‘Move the Water!’ functions by removing ocean water out of the oceans, which naturally creates a lower ocean level. Once installed, ‘Move the Water!’ will continually remove ocean water and through natural processes desalinate it and store the freshwater within the natural environment. The amount of freshwater which can be stored is immense.  

Inland Sea.

The seawater is placed in a natural depression, within a desert, which is adjacent to the ocean, via a gravity flow water path. This process creates the inland sea in a location where there once was an inland sea, which had no inflow, and thus evaporated into nothing. With the new, open flow water path, from the ocean into the inland sea, any water that evaporates will immediately be replaced from the ocean. The evaporation from the sea is a cooling process for this local atmosphere. Think of it this way. Do you remember the nice cool breeze you feel coming off a lake in the summer? This breeze is caused by the evaporation from the lake. Thus, the local area is being continually cooled.    

What evaporates up.

What evaporates up, must come down. The moisture returns in the forms of mist, rain, or snow, all of which are freshwater. The salt has been left behind in the inland sea. The retuning moisture is a cooling process for this environment. Think of it this way. How often do you stand in the rain and feel warmer than if it was not raining? The natural process of rain is again cooling this local desert environment.

Where it rains.

When it rains in the desert, plants grow. There are seeds just waiting in the desert for the next rain so they can sprout, grow, flower, and die, leaving the seeds for the next rainfall 2 years later. With a consistent moisture stream, plants will be able to survive better. FB025 goes into detail about how these plants will cool their environment. The now replanted earth will better receive future rainfall. Newly deposited freshwater will not quickly evaporate on impact, or flow across the ground surface. Rather, it will percolate into the soil for use by plants and seep deeper into the aquifer for long term storage. This is water which is not returning to the ocean anytime soon.

Plants to the rescue.

Plants have multiple functions which have multiple benefits. The simplest function is casting a shadow. Think of it this way. Have you ever tried to stand barefoot on pavement in the full sun? A very warm proposition, but to do the same thing under a shade tree is much cooler on your feet.

Plants doing their normal job of stripping carbon from CO2 and releasing O2 for us to breathe are also functioning as a natural air conditioner. This can be felt on a warm day while standing under a large shade tree. Careful attention will alert you to a cool breeze coming down out of the tree. This natural process is true of all plants, just scaled to their size, even a blade of grass.

Plants operate as a carbon sync, and a water storage tank. As the plant extracts the carbon molecule from the CO2, it puts that molecule to work in the construction of its little plant body. The carbon stays with the plant material as it dies and decays into the surrounding soil, holding the carbon there for many years. Also, about 50% of the plant body is water, which is held back from returning to the ocean.

Recycling the process.

This evaporative, raining, plant growing, processes will still release moisture into the atmosphere, where it will return to the earth and propagate another area with the same benefits. In a pay-it-forward type of process the next environment along the hydrologic path will experience the same benefits and again pay-it-forward, all via natural processes. In this way the installation of one water path from the ocean into the desert can bless many places.  

Conclusion.

This blog page makes some grand claims but has few footnotes. FB025 makes the same grand claims (not worded the same) but has 72 footnotes pointing to well researched supporting data. If you are serious about combating Global Climate Change, remember the ‘Move the Water!’ initiative and encourage its installation in as many places as possible. We will cool our world faster by cooling the hot places first.

This blog originates in the USA, and within SW-North America there is a grand project which links and involves 3 of the 11 places mentioned earlier. This proposal is physically possible, has a funding source, and will bring direct benefits to 40 million people. Read about that here. https://climate-rescue.org/2023/10/29/open-letter-to-bureau-of-reclamation/    

Proponent.

Move the Water! is the proposed initiative of Active Climate Rescue Initiative. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is founded to actively rescue our climate by encouraging positive climate change through water relocation into earth’s water deficit areas. Anyplace in the world where there is a dry depression is a place where there is a moisture deficit. These places are the key to reversing climate change. By infusing these places with water from an open flow inlet, moisture can be reintroduced into the local environment through hydrologic processes. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is a Michigan Non-Profit Corporation approved by the USA IRS as a 501.c.3 Public Charity.

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