Why has the area of green trees increased and the science is sad?
Many people are very afraid that the area of green trees on Earth is rapidly decreasing. What if one day the blue planet is no longer green? What will the lives of over 7 billion people be like?
However, recently, a group of experts from the University of Maryland (USA) found a rather surprising result. They collect and analyze data from satellite images, track changes in the cover density of upper vegetation (such as trees), lower vegetation and barren land.
As a result, the density of greenery on Earth increases.
Specifically, over the past 35 years, from 1982 to 2016, the density of greenery on Earth has increased significantly, higher than before by an area of 2.24 million square kilometers – roughly three times the size of State. Texas (United States).
Are the trees more covered?
But don’t be too happy? Although the green area has been enlarged, hiding it behind is an extremely sad fact!
Because the more trees there are covered, the more trees in the rainforest are reduced. To make it easier to understand, the total green area on Earth may increase, but the loss of vegetation in tropical forests is a loss that is difficult to compensate for.
Professor Matt Hansen, author of the study, said: “It is important to understand that the increase in plant area is real, but not in the rainforest. Ants more than 158,000 square kilometers of tropical trees have completely disappeared on the green planet. ”
Plants started to cover up, but tropical plants were lost
The reason for shrinking tropical forests is mainly because deforestation is still very ‘exploitable’. It is these destructive actions that have increased the amount of CO2 to an alarming level, causing the Earth’s temperature to rise.
As the temperature rose, more and more plants began to appear in the mountainous regions – which is why the green areas increased.
“Human actions on the natural landscape are manifested across continents. For example, expand the area of agricultural land or increase the area of forest land, improve forest land for urban construction. Commercialization … For the sole purpose of maintaining ecosystem services for the benefit of people ”- said Professor Hansen.
I think if the green planet exists, we humans will have the opportunity to take advantage of it. So remember, even the smallest of our actions can affect the earth’s environment!
