ST201904

PHOTOGRAPHY: S SAINT (CHINA); MCKINSEY JORDAN (FASHION WEEK)

Going for

green

T

he world is 5% greener now

than it was two decades ago

• literally – according to a
  newstudybyNASA.The
  US space agency claims that leaf
  cover on Earth has increased by
  twomillionsquaremilessincethe
  early 2000s, which is roughly
  equivalent to the area covered by the
  vast Amazon rainforest.
  NASA attributes around a third of
  the greening to ambitious tree-
  planting schemes in India and China,
  the world’s most populous countries.
  Intensive agriculture has also
  contributed to the increase in leaf
  cover. The agency stresses that the
  net gain in foliage does not neutralise
  the loss of natural vegetation in
  tropical regions like Brazil and
  Indonesia, where deforestation has
  had dire consequences for
  biodiversity. While more vegetation
  of any kind helps with CO2
  absorption, natural vegetation
  is best for wildlife diversity.
  But, in the context of climate
  change, the research concludes that
  therearepositivemessagestobe
  takenfromthefindings.
  ThefactthatChinaandIndia
  account for so much of the greening,

despite containing only 9% of the

planet’s land area covered in

vegetation came as a surprise, noted

Chi Chen, the study’s lead author and

a graduate researcher at Boston

University’s Department of Earth and

Environment. “It is a surprising

finding, considering the general notion

AMBITIOUS TREE-PLANTING

SCHEMES IN CHINA AND

INDIA MEANS THE PLANET

IS GETTING LEAFIER,

ACCORDING TO NASA

ByGAVIN HAINES

GOOD THINGS

POSITIVE NEWS* FROM AROUND THE WORLD

of land degradation in populous

countries from overexploitation.”

In China, 42% of the greening

comes from the expansion of

forests while 32% comes from

cultivated farmlands, the study finds.

In India, 82% of the greening comes

from new croplands.

Farmlands in

China are

contributing to

the net gain in

foliage worldwide

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LIVING (^) | GAZETTE