Desertification is a global problem caused in large part by overpopulation, water scarcity (now exacerbated by climate change) and poor land use planning and agricultural practices. And the U.S. is not immune, as the severe dust storms of the 1930s (known as the Dust Bowl) made clear.
The ambitious plan turns sand into sandstone by using microbes to eat the sand and output a solid surface that can be shaped into any structure needed.