[ShepherdsDog]

[BartSimpson]

So is the point to restore that lovely 5km thick sheet of ice that used to cover Canada?

[Thanos]

More sci-fi becoming reality as this has been addressed in numerous fiction books. Returning the buffalo in large numbers or even introducing camels to semi-desertified areas in North America would help save the soil as their cloven feet actually semi-plow the ground which helps with moisture retention whereas cattle herds with their single-hoofed feet smash the grassland down and flatten it so moisture can't get in. Water sources like the Oglala Aquifer are already stressed to the limit and if further droughts and over-consumption reduce them even further then they'll go past the tipping point and won't be able to satisfy the current needs for irrigation and drinking water.

Whether this massive restoration could ever be accomplished given the agricultural and ranching interests that dominate the North American plains is debatable but if desertification keeps accelerating all those commericial enterprises are doomed anyway. It'd be fascinating to see happen as it would be the most massive human engineering and environmental project of all time.

[jeff744]

Thanos wrote:

More sci-fi becoming reality as this has been addressed in numerous fiction books. Returning the buffalo in large numbers or even introducing camels to semi-desertified areas in North America would help save the soil as their cloven feet actually semi-plow the ground which helps with moisture retention whereas cattle herds with their single-hoofed feet smash the grassland down and flatten it so moisture can't get in. Water sources like the Oglala Aquifer are already stressed to the limit and if further droughts and over-consumption reduce them even further then they'll go past the tipping point and won't be able to satisfy the current needs for irrigation and drinking water.

Whether this massive restoration could ever be accomplished given the agricultural and ranching interests that dominate the North American plains is debatable but if desertification keeps accelerating all those commericial enterprises are doomed anyway. It'd be fascinating to see happen as it would be the most massive human engineering and environmental project of all time.

Buffalo is making a natural takeover around here in Sask due to people starting to realize it costs the same or less and tastes better, issue is getting more people to catch on to it and increase the demand so they replace cattle faster.

[Thanos]

Yeah, it's difficult to go back to beef after indulging in a buffalo burger or steak.

[ShepherdsDog]

this also allows for and would promote the consumption of more protein....which could improve the obesity rates, and all of the related health issues such as diabetes and heart disease

[jeff744]

Actually, this would be pretty awesome if Africa started churning out free range cattle to ship to the US to decrease the number of feed lots. Would create a pretty big economic boom to the region too and places that are making money don't have as high of crime rates due to not being short on cash, it would also cause a decrease in poaching for the same reason, eventually making the hunting of elephants legal again when their population gets high enough.

[Gunnair]

Thanos wrote:

Yeah, it's difficult to go back to beef after indulging in a buffalo burger or steak.

Agreed.

[commanderkai]

This is both ingenious, and yet rather surprising that it took so long to figure this out. Hopefully agriculture and government entities cooperate to allow this plan to work. Better this, than spending a massive amount of wealth for desalination plants to continue providing water for irrigation and the public.

[jeff744]

commanderkai wrote:

This is both ingenious, and yet rather surprising that it took so long to figure this out. Hopefully agriculture and government entities cooperate to allow this plan to work. Better this, than spending a massive amount of wealth for desalination plants to continue providing water for irrigation and the public.

Eventually desalinization will be cheap enough for large scale work but for now, I agree, this is far better than desalination for agriculture.