Is Any Land Pristine?

What are the long-lasting effects of human habitation and what can be done to make it more sustainable in arid regions in the future.

1 minute read

October 29, 2004, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


" 'A lot of the urbanization globally will take place in desert regions,' says Nancy Grimm, an ecologist at Arizona State University. Lessons gleaned here could well help cities around the world.

Greater Phoenix's 3.2 million inhabitants sprawl across 2,000 square miles of what once was an oasis in the Sonoran desert. Home to the sixth-largest city in the United States, the region is expected to double its population by the middle of the century. It has been continuously inhabited since at least AD 500."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Thursday, October 28, 2004 in The Christian Science Monitor

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