How the desert will help us tackle climate change

Deep beneath the California desert floor, carbon is stored for thousands of years. Around 10% of the state’s carbon is sequestered underground in the desert’s plants and soil. But that carbon storage capacity is under threat from an unlikely source: large-scale renewable energy projects. Growing numbers of solar farms are popping up in the desert, taking advantage of the region’s wide, open spaces and year-round sunshine. Some facilities are poorly sited in pristine functioning ecosystems. And this comes at an environmental cost. So, how do we quickly build up sufficient renewable energy while also conserving the land that acts as a natural carbon sink? Let’s take a look.

Simply put, climate change is a long-term shift in temperature or weather patterns. The Earth is now about 1.1°C (1.9°F) warmer than it was in the late 1800s, with the last decade the warmest on record. Greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane in the Earth’s atmosphere have increasingly trapped the sun’s heat and raised temperatures.

Climate change is predicted to cause intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, and rising sea levels. Limiting global temperature rises to no more than 1.5°C (2.7°F) would help us avoid the worst climate impacts. Except, we are on track for a temperature rise of over 3°C (5.4°F) by the end of the century, which will bring mass extinctions and make parts of the planet uninhabitable. The UN has issued a final warning that the time to act is “now or never”. Global greenhouse gas emissions need to peak by 2025 and be reduced by 43% by 2030.  The IPCC's latest report  states that without “immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is beyond reach”.

“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F)… Climate change is the result of more than a century of unsustainable energy and land use, lifestyles and patterns of consumption and production. … Taking action now can move us towards a fairer, more sustainable world.” - Jim Skea, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III

Southern California has warmed about 1.5°C (2.7°F) in the last century, according to the  EPA . There are more heat waves and rainfall is more variable. In the coming decades, the changing climate will affect the supply of water, increase the risk of wildfires, and threaten desert ecosystems. Many plants and animals living in arid lands are already struggling to adapt to desert extremes. A warmer and drier climate would generally expand the geographic ranges of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts.

Scientists forecast that climate change will dramatically impact the habitat of the western Joshua tree, an endemic species in the Mojave Desert. In 2019, UC Riverside scientists  outlined  a best and worst-case scenario for Joshua tree habitat in Joshua Tree National Park by the end of the century. They forecast that major efforts to reduce greenhouse gases would save just 19% of suitable tree habitat in the Park. With no reduction in carbon emissions, Joshua trees could well disappear from the Park – with just 2% of suitable tree habitat remaining.

The species was  granted legislative protection  through the passage of the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act in July 2023. Legislation was developed following the western Joshua tree’s candidacy for listing under the California Endangered Species Act.

Carbon storage in nature is one way we can reduce emissions. Arid soils provide the third largest global pool of carbon storage potential. In California, the desert accounts for nearly 10% of the state’s carbon sequestration. It is expected to play an even greater role in carbon storage under rising CO2 levels, according to  a 10-year study  in the Mojave Desert at the Nevada Desert Free-Air CO2 Enrichment Facility (NDFF).

Deserts store carbon through soil, plant biomass, and fungi. In the soil, plant or animal excretion and decomposition release carbon, which reacts with calcium to create calcium carbonate crystals. As some desert plant roots grow to over a hundred feet, these crystals can be deep underground. The crystals build into larger chunks over time and create carbon sinks. When the root fungi die, they leave behind their waxy coating, which aggregates and helps keep carbon in the soil. Additionally, plants take in CO2 from the air through photosynthesis and convert that into tissue. Some desert plant roots bond with underground fungi, transferring carbon to the mycorrhizae, which also store carbon.

The design of carbon capture technologies actually mirrors what the desert has been doing for thousands of years.  Climewor ks has opened one of the world’s largest carbon capture facilities in Iceland. The technology draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, pumps it underground, and mixes it with water until it turns to stone. This creates long-term carbon storage that stays out of flux. The same happens in the desert when carbon is captured and stored underground. And the only thing that compromises the carbon storage is disturbance of the fragile desert soil.

We need a swift transition to clean energy.  Senate Bill 100 requires  that renewable and zero-carbon energy resources supply 100% of electric retail sales to customers by 2045. On average, the state may need to build up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable and storage resources annually.

But we need to take a good look at how we’re going to get there. To protect the desert’s fragile resources, we need to focus on leveraging renewable energy options with the least impact on functioning ecosystems.

The most widely recognized form of renewable energy in the California desert is large-scale solar projects. Some facilities are poorly sited in pristine functioning ecosystems, many miles from the point of energy delivery. And this comes at a great environmental cost.

The Desert Renewable Energy and Conservation Plan (DRECP) was developed in a decade-long collaborative effort to manage desert lands in California. Over 50 stakeholder groups at the federal, state, and local levels worked together to develop a land use plan that balances conservation, recreation, and renewable energy development on more than 10.5 million acres of California desert public lands.

We advocate for renewable energy projects to fall within these development focus areas, and encourage the prioritization of projects in previously disturbed areas.

When we think of renewable energy as a strategy to respond to climate change, we often envision large-scale utility projects. But this perception ignores a wider spectrum of renewable options. Several innovative technologies capable of assisting in our transition to clean energy, including rooftop and community solar, should be leveraged.

These localized renewable energy plans are sometimes referred to as ‘distributed energy’. Rooftop solar is already common in many communities. Photovoltaic panels are placed on the roof of a residential home and the power is generated directly at the source. In California, community solar is only just beginning to gain traction. The idea is similar to rooftop solar, but with small, local facilities to distribute power to an entire apartment building or a senior housing development.

Efforts are still needed to improve access to distributed energy on our rooftops or on community buildings. In some cases, it still  isn’t feasible . Permitting, insurance policies, and inadequate residential infrastructure can become obstacles, as well as the cost: The set-up price averages around $20,000, putting it out of reach for many households.

We need to leverage rooftop solar and prioritize locating large-scale projects in previously-disturbed areas to ensure the California desert continues to play a role in climate resilience. 

Stay informed. Read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's  latest report .

Talk to your elected official about your concerns. Call on decision-makers to account for desert ecosystems in conservation planning to ensure the persistence of these ecosystem services under future climate change scenarios.

Be a  thoughtful consumer , support sustainable businesses.

Grow  native plants .

 Donate  to support MDLT’s climate change work.