China Confirms Solar Panel Projects Are Irreversibly Changing Desert Ecosystems

An anonymous reader shares a report: China’s giant solar parks aren’t just changing the power mix — they may be changing the ground beneath them. Fresh field data point to cooler soils, extra moisture, and pockets of greening, though lasting ecological shifts will hinge on design and long-term care.

[…] A team studying one of the largest photovoltaic parks in China, the Gonghe project in the Talatan Desert, found a striking difference between what was happening under the…