A woman with two children draws water from a well in the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert. (Image credit: Royalty-free via Getty Images)
India's Thar Desert has become 38% greener over the past two decades, thanks to a combination of climate change and expanded agricultural production, according to a new study.
Over the past 20 years, the region has become more populated and the landscape has changed, becoming more agricultural and urban, which researchers say is one reason for the desert's greening. Another piece of the puzzle is climate change, which has increased monsoon rainfall in the area.
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, covers 77,000 square miles (200,000 square kilometers) in northwestern India and southeastern Pakistan. While many deserts around the world face increasing droughts, the Thar Desert has become a center for urban growth and agriculture, making it the most densely populated desert on the planet with more than 16 million residents.
“Increased access to water and energy has facilitated the expansion of agricultural and urban areas, resulting in significant increases in crop yields in this region,” study co-author Vimal Mishra, a civil engineer at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, told Live Science in an email. “There is no other desert in the world that has experienced similar increases in urbanization, agriculture, and rainfall in recent years.”
A new study published April 3 in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability analyzed satellite data from 2001 to 2023. Mishra and his team found that the desert became 38% greener on average over that period, with more vegetation showing up in satellite images.
To understand the reasons for the greening, the researchers also analyzed historical data on population growth in the Thar Desert, irrigation systems and climate trends.
The results show that the greening of the Thar Desert has been primarily due to increased rainfall during the summer monsoon seasons (total rainfall increased by 64%) and irrigation infrastructure that allows groundwater to be extracted to the surface outside the monsoon season.
The authors suggest that sustainable water management in the Thar Desert could help the region adapt and continue to support its growing population. However, higher temperatures could pose a threat to the 16 million people living in the desert, and overuse of groundwater for irrigation could deplete the resource, the researchers note.
Researchers say sustainable water management practices, drought-resistant crops, adaptation to rising temperatures and the use of renewable energy sources should form the basis of the Thar Desert's future development.
Increased monsoon rainfall could also lead to flooding, as climate models predict that increased rainfall will manifest itself as bursts of extreme weather that could damage buildings and structures in the desert.
However, with proper management and adaptation, increased rainfall could also provide opportunities for people and agriculture to thrive in the region. Researchers who conducted a separate study predict that even more of the landscape will turn green by the end of the 21st century.
This change will improve food security in the region, but could threaten local biodiversity of specialist species adapted to desert conditions and traditional nomadic farming practices. Scientists warn that the importance of preserving these aspects of the desert ecosystem must be taken into account in future developments.
TOPICS desert agriculture
Sourse: www.livescience.com
