Each of us has a very simple idea, that is, we all hope that the environment we live in can be better, so most of us will be willing to do some environmental protection actions within our ability , such as using environmentally friendly canvas bags, cycling, and planting trees. and many more.

When planting trees, we may have thought that maybe one day, with our joint efforts, trees can be planted in all deserts, turning all deserts in the world into forests . This is a good wish, but if we think about it, if this wish can be realized, the result may not be as good as we think .

desert to forest

If all deserts turned into forests

We all know that plants are organisms that consume carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and then exhale oxygen . By photolysis of water, they are converted into organic matter. In theory, all organic matter in the world is created by plants. Our food They are also built from these organic substances , so it is not an exaggeration to think of plants as the source of life .

However, in our Chinese culture, there is a central idea, that is - too much . Not enough plants can lead to environmental degradation, but what about too many plants ? Scientists said this: the cost is too great for human beings to bear .

Tropical Rainforest - A Green World

• Ferns dominate the continent

To answer this question, we can actually find the answer in history, because there was a time in history when the whole earth was overgrown with plants.

During the Carboniferous period, the famous marine life landing event happened. Our ancestors were still some amphibians living on the coast at this time. Their main desire to climb ashore was to catch the insects living on the shore, but the marine life Plants have always developed faster than animals. At this time, plants in the sea have already developed to land, and ferns have evolved .

Ferns

These ferns have few natural enemies , and even the insects at this time can't fly, so their reproduction rate is basically only limited by time. We often see creatures without natural enemies now, that is, the invasion of foreign creatures in various places, such as the fushou snail in Guangdong, the scavenger , and the Asian carp in the Great Lakes of the United States . However, after going to an environment without natural enemies, the number immediately skyrocketed and destroyed the local ecology .

The scavenger has too much bacteria in the body and is not edible

The situation of these ferns was similar at that time. They could grow to a height of tens of meters on average. They mainly reproduced by means of spores. The spores drifted with the wind and grew wherever they drifted . Especially at that time, there was only one Pangu continent, and there would be no geographical isolation at all, and soon all the land was covered with plants .

As early as when plants appeared in the form of blue-green algae, they already possessed the big killer of photosynthesis. It was at the beginning that a large number of blue-green algae photolyzed water into oxygen through photosynthesis , and then sunlight converted oxygen into oxygen. Ozone , the earth's atmosphere is stabilized under the protection of the ozone layer. Otherwise, our current atmosphere would be more like Venus, with only a lot of carbon dioxide .

Waters experiencing a blue-green algae crisis

After ferns dominate the continent, they naturally also use photosynthesis to maintain their own life. At this time, the entire continent is like a super-large air purifier, and all the carbon dioxide in the air is sucked into the plants with every breath. In the body, only oxygen is exhaled , and the carbon in carbon dioxide is converted into organic matter by plants and becomes nutrients for other plants.

Of course, the oxygen content in the air is soaring , the carbon element in the earth's biosphere is soaring, and carbon dioxide is becoming less and less .

• Insect gigantic

The most direct effect of the soaring oxygen content is to cause the insects to grow larger . We know that the oxygen content of the atmosphere is only 21% now, but the oxygen content at that time was 35% . The size of insects is mainly limited by its respiratory system . They do not have lungs to breathe. Instead, they are covered with trachea that can directly absorb oxygen from the air. Therefore, when the oxygen content is low , only smaller insects can survive. Down , the larger insects will starve and die, and vice versa .

Carboniferous dragonfly

The insects at that time were at least twice as big as they are now. Think about the southern cockroaches that are bigger than slippers and fly over. Can the slippers in our hands kill them? The most famous dragonfly with a body of more than one meter came from this Carboniferous period.

• Air burner

If only the insects become bigger, the problem will not be very big. After all, with the advanced technology of human beings, although the insects cannot be eliminated , there is absolutely no problem in defending against them.

But scientists say that the transformation of the world by the increase in oxygen content is comprehensive . For oxygen, in addition to maintaining our life, there is a very significant feature that we can think of for the first time - flammability . For example, there are often pictures of oxygen cylinders being ignited and then exploding on TV. The most likely outcome of the increase in oxygen content is that fires occur frequently .

Now the frequent occurrence of forest fires is worrying

Air with a high concentration of oxygen is a very good combustion accelerant . Maybe you just want to light a bonfire, but the forest is set on fire directly. burnt. These scenarios are all very possible.

• reverse greenhouse effect

After talking about oxygen, we have to talk about carbon dioxide. The original intention of planting trees for environmental protection is not to increase the oxygen content in the air, but to reduce the carbon dioxide content . This is because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas , really carbon dioxide, which makes the earth we live in getting hotter and hotter .

The earth is like a greenhouse, the heat is isolated by carbon dioxide and can not be dissipated at all , causing the heat to stay on the earth and get hotter year by year.

The climate of the Carboniferous period is just the opposite of the present, and it is colder year by year, because carbon dioxide cannot be consumed at all, and the greatly reduced carbon dioxide can not keep the heat brought by the sun's irradiation on the earth , and the rate of heat loss exceeds the rate of heat gain. So the temperature drops year by year . Finally, a super-large ice age was formed .

Ice Age

It was also this ice age that led to the mass extinction of animals and plants in the Carboniferous period, and the plants that dominated the land were buried and turned into the coal we dug up now. And more plants are buried under the surface with a lot of carbon .

Do you still need to green the desert now?

From the history of the Carboniferous period mentioned above, we can know that when the number of plants on the earth exceeds a certain limit, human beings may not be able to bear the price they need to pay . But please remember the quintessence of our Chinese culture - if it is too much, then we just need not to exceed the level.

Therefore, we are also working hard to transform the desert at this moment, planting plants on the desert, and using the roots of the plants to stabilize the wind and sand , so as to achieve a water storage effect. As long as the water is stored, the desert will naturally cease to exist.

Plant roots are deeply rooted in the soil

At present, our country has always been one of the best green deserters. From the satellite map, we can see that our country's deserts are slowly turning green.

Although it is not advisable to directly turn the entire desert into a forest , we still need to work hard to transform most of the desert into an oasis. Because our current world is in the midst of the greenhouse effect, our task at this time is to multiply plants within a reasonable range to mitigate the growth rate of carbon dioxide.

To be precise, when we can make the number of plants just enough to convert the excess carbon dioxide , then the earth's environment can become very suitable for us to live in, and we no longer need to worry about the increasing temperature every day.

Universal greening rate is still important

But the current situation is that human's ability to transform nature is actually very limited. Even if we want to achieve that level, we will not be able to achieve this effect for a while. Our planting and greening actions at this moment can achieve the effect. It should only be possible to slow down the intensification of the greenhouse effect a little.

In addition to slowing down the greenhouse effect, planting greenery in the desert can also prevent sandstorms, prevent desertification, and increase arable land. Therefore, it is necessary and worthwhile to plant trees now.

How are we going to plant trees in the desert

So should we now each carry a small sapling to the desert, dig a hole in the sand with a shovel, and then place the sapling to complete the planting?

As long as you think about it, you can know that it is definitely impossible to successfully plant the saplings. The greening of the desert is a very troublesome thing. Many scientists are studying how to plant plants in the desert more efficiently .

One of the most common methods in our country now is to use hay to divide sand grids in the desert , use the sand grids to fix the sand and water , and then plant Haloxylon, Salix and other drought-resistant shrubs . These shrubs Usually there is a very developed root system, and then the root system of the surviving shrub is used to further fix the water and soil of the desert.

"Grass Square" is called "Chinese Rubik's Cube" by foreign countries

With this combination of punches, the desert that originally only had sand has been transformed into a land where grass can survive. Even the countries thought first that the people should not be allowed to work in vain, and developed a method that can also benefit from sand control and forest stabilization. The state asks everyone to contract desert governance , provides plant saplings with medicinal value , and corresponding planting techniques, and the economic crops that are planted belong to the people .

For example, the Dayun that grows from the roots of the Haloxylon ammonite tree has high medicinal value . Everyone has transformed their own homes, and they can also get benefits from it. This kind of best of both worlds has greatly improved the enthusiasm of the people.