CO2 Science Magazine reports that remote sensing has revealed a considerable regrowth of vegetation in the Sahel, after the notorious and devastating droughts of the 1980s. The researchers used AVHRR data to develop a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), with historic data stretching from 1981 to 2003.
The interesting part was that they did not find any direct correlation between the increased vegetation and increased rainfall. Instead they attribute it potentially to improved land management, increased rural to urban population movement, and rising CO2 content in the atmosphere, which increases vegetative productivity and its anti-transpirative effect, which allows vegetation to retain water better.
Yet more signs of global climate change?
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