A study conducted by a team of Australian and Chinese researchers has found that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are “driving increased plant growth that’s greening the Earth,” even in locations affected by drought.
The peer-reviewed study published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation proves that the phenomenon called “global greening” is an undeniable fact. Researchers said the rate of global greening has increased slightly, and drought has only slowed but not stopped the process.
According to the research team, global greening could be attributed to carbon dioxide fertilization along with land management, such as irrigation. The study revealed that greening acceleration occurred in 55.15 percent of the globe, while browning, which is the opposite of greening, occurred in only 7.28 percent.
The researchers explained that when combined with meteorological variables, data showed that “CO2 change dominated the LAI [greening] trend.”
However, the fact that carbon dioxide emissions are linked to plant growth is not a new finding.
Carbon dioxide accelerates global greening
In 2016, a study that used NASA satellite data and published in the journal Nature Climate Change revealed that at least 25 percent to 50 percent of the Earth’s vegetated lands showed significant greening over the past 35 years.
According to Gregory Wrightstone, the executive director of the CO2 Coalition, global greening is one of the benefits of global warming that is often ignored and dismissed because it doesn’t fit the narrative that climate change is causing a crisis.
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