Paper Reviewed
Liu, S.L., Zhao, H.D., Su, X.K., Deng, L., Dong, S.K. and Zhang, X. 2015. Spatio-temporal variability in rangeland conditions associated with climate change in the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau over the past 15 years. The Rangeland Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/RJ14068.

Noting that "changes in the photosynthetically active vegetation of alpine desert rangeland due to climate change have not been adequately quantified," Liu et al. (2015) took it upon themselves to study temporal changes in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of rangelands in the Altun Nature Reserve on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau over the period stretching from 1998 to 2012. And based on these data, they determined "areas of likely rangeland degradation and areas of improved rangeland conditions." And what did these efforts reveal?

The six scientists report that, generally, "the NDVI showed an increasing trend over time," but with "several annual fluctuations." And going into more detail, they report that "high values were distributed mainly in the core area of the nature reserve," while "vegetation near rivers and lakes was most likely to be degraded." Overall, however, they say that "the vegetation conditions improved over the 15 years of the study, which meant an improvement in the habitats of key wild ungulate species." And they additionally report that both "precipitation and temperature had a significant linear positive correlation with NDVI, which suggested that they were the main driving forces for rangeland improvement."

Clearly, not all climate change is bad. In fact, much of it is good. And if you'd like to see some additional examples of goodness, check out the host of items we have archived under the general heading of "Greening of the Earth" in our Subject Index.