Savory's Claims On Desertification And Climate Change.pdf

Allan Savory's claims in his TED video are unfounded and have the potential to undermine proven approaches to rangeland management and restoration. Two major assumptions underlying his presentation are that humans have misunderstood grassland-grazer relationships for centuries and that his method is the only viable solution to reverse desertification and climate change. A specific critique of three invalid arguments used by Savory to claim his method can reverse desertification, climate change, and alleviate human suffering and death is presented.

Invalid Argument 1: All nonforested lands are degrading. Savory claims that all nonforested land on the planet is degrading, which is false. Many rangelands are well managed, and deserts are a consequence of climate and soil factors, in addition to inappropriate management. Savory justified this claim by discrediting rangeland science, stating that "a century of rangeland management has increased land degradation." However, global rangeland degradation is often a consequence of increasing human and livestock populations, land fragmentation, changes to land tenure, and poverty.

Invalid Argument 2: Rangelands can store all fossil fuel carbon in the atmosphere. Savory claims that his grazing method can reduce atmospheric carbon concentrations to preindustrial levels, which is an enormous misrepresentation of the global carbon cycle and climate change science. Fossil fuel combustion, followed by deforestation, land conversion, and degradation, are the major contributors to increasing atmospheric carbon and global warming. Strategies to offset climate change by increasing carbon storage in soils and vegetation are extremely limited relative to the current rate of global carbon emissions.

Invalid Argument 3: Intensive grazing is necessary to prevent rangeland degradation. The ecological benefits of concentrated livestock grazing or "hoof action" to rangeland restoration and carbon sequestration are grossly overstated and without supporting evidence. Two photos presented in the video were misrepresented, and the capacities of soils to sequester carbon do not increase indefinitely but encounter upper limits set by climate, vegetation, and soil characteristics. Most estimates set the carbon sequestration potential of global rangelands between one and two billion tons per year, a significant amount but hardly sufficient to offset current carbon emissions.