Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

Here’s my position on climate change: It’s happening.

You and I may disagree on whether or not it is anthropogenic, but if you deny that it’s happening at all, well, there’s no evidence I can provide that will convince you.

Last month, Allan Savory gave a presentation at the TED Talks, discussing climate change and the results of experiments in biomimicry. The content was astounding; so much so, that I strongly recommend everyone to devote 20 minutes to watching the video of his presentation. I came away, hopeful about our ability to address one of the contributing factors of climate change.

I first read about biomimicry back before the turn of the century (I love using that phrase) in a book by Janine Benyus entitled, appropriately, Biomimicry. The book did not address the issue of climate change–Al Gore hadn’t made a splash with it yet–but it did look at ways to solve human problems by mimicking patterns found in nature, such as the use of mixed-grain planting to mimic the prairie grasses of the Great Plains and help stop erosion and soil depletion.

What Allan Savory has done, is to mimic natural patterns and help reverse one of the four major anthropogenic contributors to climate change: desertification.

Many people admit that climate change is real, but do not believe that we, humankind, are the cause. Our planet has a history of warm and cold periods; this is a documented fact, and we don’t have terribly accurate measurements whereby we can see if the pattern and trendlines of previous climate shifts match the one we’re now seeing. This argument has some merits, but its conclusion–to do nothing–does not. If I find my house is infested with termites, I’m not going to sit back and say, “Well, it’s just the nature of the planet; termites eat wood, you know.” No, I’m going to do something about it, if I can.

Whether or not the planet is simply going through a warming trend, there are four things we humans do that exacerbate the situation: burning fossil fuels, deforestation, slash-and-burn land management, and desertification. We’re all working on limiting and eliminating our need for fossil fuels, and there are projects underway across the world to curb deforestation, but the incessant burning and desertification of vast parts of the world has gone largely unnoticed and left unaddressed.

Allan Savory believes–and in fact has shown evidence of how–increasing livestock density in these desertified areas can substantially restore the health and productivity of these impoverished grasslands. And his solution is such a win-win, I cannot understand why we’re not all shouting about it.

Immense parts of global land do not receive enough rainfall to support large-scale agriculture. In these areas, people must depend on meat from livestock for their survival. The problem is that with small herds moving over these grasslands–such as one finds with individual ranchers tending their animals–the natural patterns of these grasslands, patterns created by large herds of grazing animals, are interrupted. Fewer animals create pathways, exposing soil; exposed soil leads to rainwater runoff, and erosion; erosion exposes more soil, and the next year has less grass for the herds. This diminishes available sustenance for the herds, the herds over-graze, and this perpetuates the downward cycle.

It’s counter-intuitive, to say the least, but the evidence of Savory’s results are incontrovertible.

When he increases the density of the livestock herds–mimicking nature’s original patterns–the land is evenly trod upon, leaving a cover of vegetal matter over the land, which soaks up the rains, which decomposes biologically (helped by the feces and urine left behind by the herd), and in one year, plant production can increase 50%, returning to health and full sustainability within a handful of years. Moreover, this return to health means we do not need to burn the fields to limit the danger of wildfires.

Climate change is a complex problem in a complex system, and will not have a single, magic bullet solution. We’re not going to get out of this by driving a Prius. Even if you don’t agree that it’s completely anthropogenic, there’s no reason for us not to try to do what we can. With Savory’s ideas, we can return grasslands to health, feed starving populations, and perhaps even reduce the war and suffering of millions of people in these hard-hit regions of the globe.

k