becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys:
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YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Those are the countries. It will be drought-resistant species, mostly acacias. And this is a brilliant idea you have no idea oh my Christ
This will create so many jobs and regenerate so many communities and aaaaaahhhhhhh
more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Green_Wall
it’s already happening, and already having positive effects. this is wonderful, why have i not heard of this before? i’m so happy!
Oh yes, acacia trees.
They fix nitrogen and improve soil quality.
And, to make things fun, the species they’re using practices “reverse leaf phenology.” The trees go dormant in the rainy season and then grow their leaves again in the dry season. This means you can plant crops under the trees, in that nitrogen-rich soil, and the trees don’t compete for light because they don’t have any leaves on.
And then in the dry season, you harvest the leaves and feed them to your cows.
Crops grown under acacia trees have better yield than those grown without them. Considerably better.
So, this isn’t just about stopping the advancement of the Sahara - it’s also about improving food security for the entire sub-Saharan belt and possibly reclaiming some of the desert as productive land.
Of course, before the “green revolution,” the farmers knew to plant acacia trees - it’s a traditional practice that they were convinced to abandon in favor of “more reliable” artificial fertilizers (that caused soil degradation, soil erosion, etc).
This is why you listen to the people who, you know, have lived with and on land for centuries.
^ The bold.
(via endless-endeavours)
Stranded Whales
In the Wadi al-Hitan, deep in the deserts of Egypt a strange sight can be found. The bones of hundreds of long dead whales can be found simply lying in the sand. Such is the uniqueness of this location that it has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. But the question remains of how these ocean-going creatures ended up so far inland. While some might suggest some kind of cataclysmic event washed these whales far from their home, leaving them to die under the desert sun, a closer examination of the bones reveals the answer. These whales belong to a long extinct group of Cetacean’s known as the Archaeocetidae.
(Source: facebook.com, via nervousbreadchaos-deactivated20)
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Statue of Horus
Solid cast bronze statue of the god Horus as a falcon. Late Period, 26th Dynasty, ca. 664-525 BC. Now in the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokoyo.
(via into-strange-skies)
bronze statuette (H.31.3 cm with base) of the God Osiris (eyes and brows inlaid with silver and copper) mummiform, wearing the White Crown with the two feathers and the Uraeus, holding the ‘Heqa’-scepter and the Flail.
Dated to the Late Period (ca. 664–332 BCE). Now in the British Museum…
(via egypt-ancient-and-modern)
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