The Pacific slope of Peru is greening, and this is not good news

[Judi Lynn]

University of Cambridge
21-Jul-2023 4:10 PM EDT, by University of Cambridge

Newswise — Analysing satellite data spanning the past 20 years, the research team based at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge examined how vegetation has been changing along the Pacific coast of Peru and northern Chile. This area is known for its unique and delicate arid and semi-arid environments.

The analysis revealed that certain areas experienced positive vegetation growth, known as greening, while others displayed negative trends, referred to as browning. Unsurprisingly, the changes in vegetation are influenced by things like farming and urban development or change in land use practices.

But more interestingly this study, published in MDPI Remote Sensing, revealed the discovery of a huge section of the West Slope of the Andes undergoing significant greening in the past 20 years. This section, which extends from Northern Peru to Northern Chile, spanning a length of about 2000km, has seen its vegetation growing significantly over time. This greening trend varies with altitude, with different vegetation types at different elevations.

The research team, consisting of mathematicians, geographers, biologists, and earth scientists, used satellite images from 2000 to 2020 to observe changes in vegetation over time in this area. They plotted 450 data points and developed a mathematical model to remove artificial variations (such as cloudy days) and seasonality, and used statistical analysis to ensure that they were only analysing areas with a significant trend.

More:
https://www.newswise.com/articles/troubling-trend-greening-of-peru-s-pacific-slope-raises-concerns