China’s decades-long effort to combat desertification around the Taklamakan Desert—one of the world’s largest and driest—is yielding a surprising result: the desert’s edges are now absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than they release, effectively turning a “biological void” into a carbon sink.
The Harsh Reality of the Taklamakan
The Taklamakan Desert, spanning roughly 130,000 square miles, is naturally inhospitable. Surrounded by high mountains that block rainfall, it’s historically been a landscape of shifting sands, unable to sustain much vegetation. Decades of urbanization and farmland expansion have worsened the conditions, increasing sandstorms and land degradation. This is a critical issue because desertification doesn’t just destroy land; it accelerates climate change by releasing stored carbon from soil and hindering natural carbon absorption.
The Great Green Wall: A Bold Intervention
Since 1978, China has pursued the “Three-North Shelterbelt Program,” also known as the “Great Green Wall.” The goal: plant billions of trees around the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts by 2050. To date, over 66 billion trees have been planted. While the program’s success in reducing sandstorms has been debated, recent research confirms a significant shift in the desert’s carbon balance.
From Biological Void to Carbon Sink
New analysis of satellite data and ground observations over the past 25 years reveals that vegetation planted around the desert’s perimeter is now absorbing more CO2 than it emits. This transformation is linked directly to the Great Green Wall initiative. During the wet season (July–September), precipitation averages 0.6 inches per month, boosting vegetation growth and lowering CO2 levels from 416 parts per million to 413 ppm.
Previous studies suggested that the desert sand itself could act as a carbon sink, but those findings were questioned due to the instability of sand under rising temperatures. This new research clarifies that vegetation, not just the sand, is driving the change. The Taklamakan’s rim now represents the first proven example of a desert successfully converted into a carbon sink.
Implications and Future Models
While the Great Green Wall’s impact on desertification remains under investigation, its success as a carbon sink offers a potential model for other arid regions. Stabilizing vegetation in these extreme environments demonstrates that human intervention can enhance carbon sequestration, even where conditions are historically unfavorable.
The key takeaway is that large-scale ecological engineering, though ambitious, can yield tangible environmental benefits. The Taklamakan Desert’s transformation highlights the potential for active restoration to combat climate change, even in some of the world’s most challenging landscapes.
