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China just completed its 3,046-kilometer “Great Green Wall” along its biggest desert
China just completed one part of its massive initiative to use reforestation to hold back the expansion of the Gobi Desert and other arid areas: a 3,046-kilometer “Great Green Wall.”
Red willows, sacsaoul, and other tree species are expected to act like a “security wall” to stop the flow of desert winds and sandstorms, which have a damaging impact on agriculture. Desertification like this is a massive global issue, too.
Launched in 1978, the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program is slated to be finished by 2050, could involve as many as 100 billion trees, and will be the world’s largest ecological engineering project.
What’s the nuance? Some experts worry the project isn’t sustainable and won’t have the desired outcome — arguing that planting trees where they are not native could have larger negative implications for the ecosystem. Still, desertification is a massive issue, and the project shows China’s efforts to address it — and the benefits and importance of tree cover is well-documented.
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Author James Patterson gave hundreds of independent bookstore employees a holiday bonus
Since 2015, bestselling novelist James Patterson has been awarding holiday bonuses to independent bookstore employees — and this year, he continued that tradition.
Chosen from thousands of applicants, 600 booksellers received $500 holiday bonuses this year — working at bookstores across the country, like Thank You Books in Birmingham, City Lights Books in San Francisco, and The Nook in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The winners were nominated for the bonus by coworkers and customers.
In addition to these annual bonuses, Patterson has also given millions of dollars to schools, libraries, and literacy programs.