The Green Sahara

In The Green Sahara: Regaining Paradise in the Face of Climate Change, John Gaudet explores the process by which climate change in ancient times converted a green paradise into an arid desert land, highlighting parallels to what is happening in our time. But he also illuminates how an intense effort to create green energy is being made by several Saharan countries to build and operate enormous solar and wind farms. As a result, a wave of green energy generated in the Sahara, the largest desert on earth, is about to swamp the world, and could lead to a regreening of the Sahara Desert. If a new green Sahara happens, how will the world benefit?

Covering just 20% of the Sahara Desert with wind turbines and solar panels would generate almost five times more energy than is currently needed worldwide. Gaudet highlights further benefits of deploying climate technology to the desert such as sequestering large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and eliminating negative health and ecosystem effects felt worldwide from desert dust. Gaudet's manifesto demonstrates how, in this fascinating case, climate change induced by man actually has the power to save the world and restore a beautiful piece of ancient history.

Hardback, 320 pages, published by Bloombury Publishing, 2026

About the author

John Gaudet, PhD, was a Fulbright Scholar who spent 17 years in Africa, first teaching at various universities and then as an environmental officer. He is the author of Papyrus and Pharaoh’s Treasure. His writing also appeared in National Geographic, The Washington Post, Salon, and HuffPost, among other publications.