Deserts have a biocrust that acts like our skin. The “skin” of the desert soils is “essential to life in dry places.” This “biocrust” is a mixture of fungi, blue-green algae, lichens, mosses, and a variety of other microbes. All together, these microorganisms keep water and create food for themselves and other microbes. Rising temperatures, however, destroys the skin-biocrust of desert soils, thus precipitating the spread of deserts. This is a large global harm as the biocrust-skin of the desert soils makes up 12 percent of all land on the planet. Its health is essential to the integrity of the health of the Earth. Climate chaos is making the deserts hostile to life. More

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