Climate change killing trees across the Sahel, says study

This was lazy journalism. The farmers aren't being 'forced' to grow trees, it's what they used to do before government got involved and stopped the process. They're just returning to old practices and environmentalists are taking advantage of the issue and blaming climate change.

Wasn't various African governments' policies that the government owned the trees responsible for removing natural trees and shrubs between crops? I've been reading the Sahel is experiencing a regrowth of vegetation. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2011/12/14/is-global-warming-really-harming-africas-sahel-region/

What a pity that US universities do not train people about how water cycles function in such seasonal rainfall environments in the U.S. and Africa. Seasonal rainfall rangelands in the US and throughout Africa exhibit anywhere up to 95% bare soil between grass plants. Such bare and generally capped soil leads to the available rainfall becoming less effective. Rain soaking in subsequently largely evaporates from the soil surface, or if rains are intense runs to flash flooding loss.

Two things lead to such high percentages of bare soil between plants in the US, Africa, Australia, China, Pakistan, Israel, etc etc.- too few large herbivores overgrazing plants while over-resting the land and/or fire. Both are standard treatments leading to less effective rainfall or desertification. We scientists as we know interpret data to fit our prevailing paradigms and so today it is fashion to attribute tree deaths through less effective rainfall to climate change. In reality it is desertification that is contributing to climate change which is now entering a typical feedback loop.

Fortunately people on four continents now are beginning to reverse desertification simply by making the available rainfall more effective using increased livestock and holistic planned grazing. Management needs to be holistic and can never be reductionist and such research, based on clearly flawed ground truthing of satellite imagery, is misleading and of limited use to practically solving the problems of current unnecessary cultural genocide, poverty and violence in a troubled region.