Sahara Expert Says Desert Shrinking, Calls Alarmist Tipping Points “Complete Nonsense”

Dr. Kröpelin is an award-wining geologist and climate researcher at the University of Cologne and specializes in studying the eastern Sahara desert and its climatic history. He’s been active out in the field there for more than 40 years.

In the Auf 1 interview, Dr. Kröpelin contradicts the alarmist claims of growing deserts and rapidly approaching climate tipping points. He says that already in the late 1980s rains had begun spreading into northern Sudan and have since indeed developed into a trend. Since then, rains have increased and vegetation has spread northwards. “The desert is shrinking; it is not growing.”

Kröpelin confirms that when the last ice age ended some 12,000 years ago, the eastern Sahara turned green with vegetation, teemed with wildlife and had numerous bodies of water 5000 – 10,000 years ago (more here).

Later in the interview Kröpelin explains how the eastern Sahara climate was reconstructed using a vast multitude of sediment cores and the proxy data they yielded. According to the German geology expert: “The most important studies that we conducted all show that after the ice age, when global temperatures rose, the Sahara greened”…”the monsoon rains increased, the ground water rose”. This all led to vegetation and wildlife taking hold over thousands of year.

Then over the past few thousands of years, the region dried out. It didn’t happen all of a sudden like climate models suggest.

When asked about dramatic tipping points (8:00) such as those claimed to be approaching by the Potsdam Institute (PIK), Kröpelin says he’s very skeptical and doesn’t believe crisis scenarios such as those proposed by former PIK head, Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber. He says people making such claims “never did any studies themselves in any climate zone on the earth and they don’t understand how complex climate change is.”

Except for catastrophic geological events, “it’s not how nature works,” Kröpelin says. “Things change gradually.”

The claims that “we have to be careful that things don’t get half a degree warmer, otherwise everything will collapse, is of course complete nonsense.”

“I would say this concept [tipping points] is baseless. Much more indicates that they won’t happen than that they will happen.”

Late last year in Munich, he called the notion of CO2-induced climate tipping points scientifically outlandish. He also called the prospect of the Sahara spreading into Europe preposterous.

Deserts hot. Smaller desert means less heat? Less heat means cooler climate?

Yes a desert is hot, during the day. At night, it gets much colder than a non-desert area would. The average tends to be the same for a desert and non-desert given the same environmental locale.

Had these 'climate scientists' been around in medieval times they would have proclaimed that the sun would totally disappear forever based on it appearing shorter amounts of time near the end of the year (if they were living in about the same latitude as most of us are).

Any medieval scientists living near the Arctic Circle would predict that the Sun would soon dominate the sky forever, causing all the glaciers to melt and the oceans to rise hundreds of feet.

Speaking of oceans rising, the major ocean levels have not changed in thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of years. It is the land which moves up and down.

Selections from three related keywords:

1989: U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked [03/18/2019]
Another global warming catastrophe: the Sahara Desert is actually getting greener [06/03/2015]
TERRIBLE NEWS FOR CLIMATE CATASTROPHISTS: THE SAHARA IS GETTING GREENER [06/02/2015]
Sahara Desert Greening Due to Climate Change? [08/02/2009]
World's deserts getting greener despite global warming [07/20/2009]
The Green Sahara, A Desert In Bloom [10/03/2008]
Once Lush Sahara Dried Up Over Millennia, Study Says [05/08/2008]
Sahara dried out slowly, not abruptly: study [05/08/2008]
Desertification, dust 'global threats' [06/17/2005]
Deserts set to expand (Climate Change barf alert) [06/17/2005]
World's land turning to desert at alarming speed, United Nations warns [06/15/2004]
Ice covers the Sahara Desert for just 4th time in 50 years [01/25/2021]
Snow covers SAHARA DESERT for the third time in 40 years as storm sees 16 INCHES in one day (tr) [01/08/2018]
Snow Falls on the Sahara Desert for First Time in 40 Years [12/23/2016]
'Everyone was stunned': Snow falls in Sahara desert town for first time in 37 years [12/21/2016]
Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months [11/13/2009]
The coming ice age [full-blown glaciation in less than 20 years] [03/08/2004]
Massive dust cloud from Sahara Desert drifting 5,000 miles over Atlantic towards the US; Brings Scorching Temps, Poor Air Quality for 5 States [07/08/2023]
Massive Saharan Dust Plume Over Atlantic, Headed For US By Weekend [05/18/2022]
Huge Saharan Dust Storm Covers Europe [03/18/2022]
Florida Braces For Another Saharan Dust Storm [06/19/2021]
On Florida's horizon: Dust, brilliant sunsets and allergies [06/16/2021]
Saharan dust plume with high values moving over Europe [02/07/2021]
Sahara Dust Storm To Cover Half Of The United States [06/22/2020]
Massive Sahara dust plume headed for southeastern US, could bring sensational sunsets [06/19/2020]
Global "Dusting", Not Warming! [09/13/2018]
NASA video shows how dust from Sahara Desert fuels Amazon rain forest [02/28/2015]
Mysterious Earthen Rings Predate Amazon Rainforest [07/10/2014]
Mineral dust plays key role in cloud formation and chemistry [05/10/2013]
The lush green Sahara [09/20/2021]
Ancient rivers reveal multiple Sahara Desert greenings [01/29/2021]
Research links Southeast Asia megadrought to drying in Africa [mid-Holocene] [08/22/2020]
Study shows the Sahara swung between lush and desert conditions every 20,000 years... [01/03/2019]
Humans delayed the onset of the Sahara desert by 500 years [10/01/2018]
The problem of the wet Sahara [08/10/2018]
Entomologist Confirms First Saharan Farming 10,000 Years Ago [03/22/2018]
More Evidence of a Wet Sahara [02/23/2017]
Study Confirms Ancient River Systems in Sahara 100,000 Years Ago [09/12/2013]
Stone Age humans crossed Sahara in the rain [11/12/2009]
Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin [09/12/2009]
Prehistoric Desert Town Found In Western Sahara (15,000 Years Old) [08/20/2004]

Except for catastrophic geological events, “it’s not how nature works,” Kröpelin says. “Things change gradually.” The claims that “we have to be careful that things don’t get half a degree warmer, otherwise everything will collapse, is of course complete nonsense.” “I would say this concept [tipping points] is baseless. Much more indicates that they won’t happen than that they will happen.”

Whoa - does this mean real scientists are coming back? 'Bout time...

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