By Jo Nova
NASA has finally studied the LandSat satellite images of vegetation down to 30 metre resolution and discovered with “unprecedented detail” that climate change is a good thing.
The northern boreal forests are the largest terrestrial biome in the world, and it’s warming faster than any other forest type, and loving it.
This is the catastrophe they’ve been warning us about…
Satellite record shows boreal forests expanded 12% and shifted north since 1985
What kind of pollution causes forest growth?
It’s time we got serious about the benefits of CO2.
The analysis revealed that boreal forests both grew in size and moved northward. The forests expanded by 0.844 million km² (a 12% increase) and shifted northward by 0.29° mean latitude, with gains concentrated between 64°N and 68°N. Their work also showcased the capacity of new growth to act as a carbon sink. Young boreal forests (up to 36 years) hold an estimated 1.1–5.9 petagrams of carbon (Pg C) with the potential to sequester an additional 2.3–3.8 Pg C if allowed to mature. Landsat’s long-time series of highly calibrated data allows researchers to study how ecosystems shift over decades, a crucial insight into our changing world.
What’s not to like about CO2: Extinctions are declining, cyclones used to be nastier, floods were worse, Pacific Islands are growing not sinking, and sea levels used to be much higher.
REFERENCE
Min Feng et al, Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Biogeosciences (2026). DOI: 10.5194/bg-23-1089-2026 bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/1089/2026/