‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain is running out of water

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by drabadur on Saturday May 13, 2023 @03:03PM (#35931568)

The problem of Spain is intense anthropogenic land (mis-)use including deforestation and mining, which led to the desertification especially in the south in the first place; this has been happening since pre-historic times. So, no, there shouldn't be deserts in Spain right now, and they are for the most part not natural. Read further here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00346... (free version available via google search on ResearchGate)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by aregue on Saturday May 13, 2023 @03:18PM (#35931734)

Exactly. Los Monegros was until 1766 Europes largest oak (encina) forest. It had been a communal forest. The forest was privatized and cut to cultivate cereal.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by toomuchtodo on Saturday May 13, 2023 @04:10PM (#35932229)

Does Spain have any reforestation efforts planned for areas experiencing anthropogenic desertification?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by pvaldes on Saturday May 13, 2023 @06:13PM (#35933292)

Without the will to jail arsonists first is a waste of money.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by MichaelZuo on Saturday May 13, 2023 @04:25PM (#35932354)

Huh, it makes me wonder how the Black Forest in Germany was preserved.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by Amezarak on Saturday May 13, 2023 @05:01PM (#35932668)

It mostly wasn’t. What you see now is a tiny remnant.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by willdough on Sunday May 14, 2023 @01:32AM (#35935570)

The linked article is about deforestation by humans and is irrelevant to the fact that huge parts of Spain have long been deserts.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain ... by drabadur on Sunday May 14, 2023 @02:30PM (#35940154)

Deforestation is the only major relevant factor that led to the formation of any desert in Spain, and this started a "long" time ago, and is purely and simply controlled by humans. For example, the famous Tabernas desert is the result of deforestation, followed by intensive erosion.

[ Parent | on HN ]