THE Sahara is shrinking. Its long southern edge is turning green as farm yields soar and water tables rise (see “Africans go back to the land as plants reclaim the desert”). If this seems scarcely credible it is because it flies in the face of one of the most enduring environmental beliefs of our time – namely, that Africa’s deserts are spreading relentlessly thanks to cycles of drought, over-farming and overgrazing. But it just isn’t so. Even as drought looms in southern Africa, the larger arid area north of the equator is blooming – as it has been for…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 51¶¯Âş
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Health
The mysterious reason why women get hotter from age 18 to 42
51¶¯Âş
Comment
This is the most underrated sci-fi film franchise of the 21st century
Culture
Comment
Shiver me timbers: Do we have to worry about space pirates now?
Regulars
Life
PMOS shows us why many scientific terms need to be renamed
Leader
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âş articles
1
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
2
Can we harness quantum effects to create a new kind of healthcare?
3
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
4
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
5
Photos reveal unexpected details from the world's first atomic test
6
After news about Oliver Sacks's "lies", we revisit his best-loved book
7
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
8
The future of robot armies is here – and it’s not what you think
9
Odd “butterfly†molecule could lead to new parts of the quantum realm
10
We may finally know why dinosaurs like T. rex evolved tiny arms
