| Title |
Climate model shows large-scale wind and solar farms in the Sahara increase rain and vegetation
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Science, September 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1126/science.aar5629 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Yan Li, Eugenia Kalnay, Safa Motesharrei, Jorge Rivas, Fred Kucharski, Daniel Kirk-Davidoff, Eviatar Bach, Ning Zeng |
| Abstract |
Wind and solar farms offer a major pathway to clean, renewable energies. However, these farms would significantly change land surface properties, and, if sufficiently large, the farms may lead to unintended climate consequences. In this study, we used a climate model with dynamic vegetation to show that large-scale installations of wind and solar farms covering the Sahara lead to a local temperature increase and more than a twofold precipitation increase, especially in the Sahel, through increased surface friction and reduced albedo. The resulting increase in vegetation further enhances precipitation, creating a positive albedo-precipitation-vegetation feedback that contributes ~80% of the precipitation increase for wind farms. This local enhancement is scale dependent and is particular to the Sahara, with small impacts in other deserts. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 887 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 97 | 11% |
| United Kingdom | 29 | 3% |
| Spain | 23 | 3% |
| Chile | 20 | 2% |
| Mexico | 18 | 2% |
| Ukraine | 18 | 2% |
| Australia | 18 | 2% |
| Germany | 18 | 2% |
| France | 16 | 2% |
| Other | 188 | 21% |
| Unknown | 442 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 763 | 86% |
| Scientists | 100 | 11% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 15 | 2% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 8 | <1% |
| Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 368 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 368 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 71 | 19% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 60 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 43 | 12% |
| Student > Bachelor | 30 | 8% |
| Other | 16 | 4% |
| Other | 50 | 14% |
| Unknown | 98 | 27% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 59 | 16% |
| Environmental Science | 58 | 16% |
| Engineering | 32 | 9% |
| Energy | 21 | 6% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 19 | 5% |
| Other | 58 | 16% |
| Unknown | 121 | 33% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2189. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 April 2024.
All research outputs
#3,983
of 25,770,491 outputs
Outputs from Science
#213
of 83,322 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#64
of 347,084 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science
#5
of 1,214 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,770,491 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 83,322 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 66.0. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 347,084 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1,214 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.