How China, followed by India, has led greening efforts across world | Explained News, The Indian Express

How China, followed by India, has led greening efforts across world | Explained News, The Indian Express

Written by Sowmiya Ashok |Beijing |Updated: May 9, 2019 8:42:26 am

How China, followed by India, has led greening efforts across world

Data show that since Independence, a fifth of India’s land has consistently been under forests.

The Forest Survey of India’s State of Forest Report 2017 had recorded that forest cover had increased by 6,600 sq km or 0.21% since 2015.

A new satellite-based study shows that China and India are leading the increase in “greening efforts” across the world. Published in Nature Sustainability, the study shows that the change driving these efforts emerges from China’s ambitious tree-planting programmes and intensive agriculture practised in both countries. A group of researchers from the US, Europe, China and India had detected the greening phenomenon in satellite data from the 1980s; it was initially unclear whether human activity was the cause. Lead study author Chi Chen, from Boston University’s Department of Earth and Environment, said this was especially unknown in the case of China and India, which saw quick economic development since the 2000s.