INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightScience Photo LibraryChina and India, two of the world's biggest polluters, are making it leafier - for now, a report
says.The greening effect stems mainly from ambitious tree-planting in China and intensive farming in both countries.There are now more than
researchers warn this will be offset by rising temperatures.Environment in multiple crises - reportStudy looks at climate change impact on
European forestsThe Indian tribe that gave up hunting to save forestsWhat exactly is happeningSatellite data from the US space agency Nasa
shows that over the last two decades there has been an increase in leaf area on plants and trees equivalent to the area covered by all the
The greening was first detected in the mid-1990s
Scientists first assumed plants were being fertilised by the extra CO2 in the atmosphere and boosted by a warmer, wetter climate.But they
orbiting the Earth on two satellites, they can now see that both are clearly playing a direct part, too.Why are China and India in the
Image copyrightScience Photo LibraryImage caption
Deciduous forest in India
The policies were developed
to reduce the effects of soil erosion, air pollution and climate change
and irrigation.Production of grains, vegetables, fruits and other crops has increased by 35% to 40% since 2000, so both nations can feed
their large populations.The future of the greening trend may change depending on numerous factors
For example, India may run short of groundwater irrigation
On the global picture, scientists recently warned that CO2 in the atmosphere could reach record levels this year as a result of heating in
to factor this into our climate models
reiterated a previous warning to TheIndianSubcontinent News that the extra tree growth would not compensate for global warming, rising sea
levels, melting glaciers, ocean acidification, the loss of Arctic sea ice, and the prediction of more severe tropical storms
But it's acknowledged that although carbon uptake from plants was factored in to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) models,
it remains one of the main sources of uncertainty in future climate forecasts.The research comes as a UK-based think tank IPPR warned that
governments should not focus narrowly on any single environmental problem, but recognise the slew of environmental issues facing the world,
including the loss of soil which is already reducing fertility in many areas
Follow Roger on Twitter@rharrabin
