Overview
- Peer‑reviewed analysis finds a persistent multidecadal northward drift of the vegetation focal point, moving roughly 3 to 14 kilometers per year.
- The center traces a yearly wave from a mid‑July northern extreme near Iceland to a March southern extreme off Liberia, yet it remains on the Northern Hemisphere.
- An eastward shift is linked to pronounced greening hotspots in India, China and Russia, with Chinese afforestation cited as a likely contributor.
- The team proposes longer growing seasons, milder winters and CO2 fertilization as potential drivers, emphasizing these remain hypotheses requiring further tests.
- The kNDVI framework, built from long‑term satellite records and models, could be adapted to track analogous seasonal centers for ice cover, water storage and fires.