More Trees on Earth Now Than 20 Years Ago: NASA

A recent data released by NASA shows that the world is greener than it was in the last 20 years ago and there are more trees now on earth. Thanks to the efforts of China and India for planting more trees. Scientists have built a //two-decade-long picture from the data obtained from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, system on two satellites orbiting the globe. The researchers looked at the satellite images since the mid-1990s and first noticed the so-called ‘greening effect.’ Over the last 20 years, the greening effect that has occurred on the earth is equal to the same coverage of the Amazon rainforests. What’s more interesting is, NASA reported that they had observed two million square miles of extra green leaf areas every year since the early 2000s.

Through the MODIS system, scientists observed ‘greening effect’ patterns over India and China, where human activities involving planting trees and crop growing techniques have been a significant driving force.

The earth’s vegetation-rich land in India and China accounts for only 9 percent; nevertheless, both of them have contributed a staggering one-third to the greening effect, reveals NASA. India has added to this through different means, one such method is multiple cropping, whereas China has contributed through tree planting- approximately 42% from forests and 38% from croplands.

The age-old practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same agricultural land during the same season is known as ‘multiple cropping,’ which had proved successful for India, unlike the West. India had successfully grown a range of crops including grains, fruits, and vegetables to sustain the growing population and export to other countries. Mutual cooperation from the state and central governments, policy makers and farmers despite unpredictable weather conditions have successfully led India on the path of the greener world.

Planting more trees is the best practical method of removing the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, thereby limiting the warming effect the greenhouse gases are having on the earth. Combustion of fossil fuels continues to rise, even though many scientific reports warrants the curbing of fossils’ use to prevent climatic change. Although India and China are the world’s most significant contributors to fossil fuel use, they are also looking for ways to mitigate the problem of global warming through practical means.

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Source-Medindia