“To our surprise, the data was recommending that the location was greening rather of browning. We zoomed out and recognized other areas were also greening on a large scale.” Indeed, in northern Peru, the greening strip mostly lies in the environment zone corresponding to the hot dry desert,” said Lepage.
Research study from the Cavendish Laboratory found extensive and unexpected greening trends along the Pacific coast of Peru and northern Chile, providing implications for local ecological management and agriculture.
Analyzing satellite information spanning the past 20 years, the research group based at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge took a look at how vegetation has been changing along the Pacific coast of Peru and northern Chile. This location is known for its fragile and distinct arid and semi-arid environments.
The analysis revealed that certain locations experienced positive vegetation growth, referred to as greening, while others showed negative trends, described as browning. Unsurprisingly, the changes in vegetation are influenced by things like farming and city development or modifications in land use practices.
Discovery of Significant Greening
More interestingly this research study, released in MDPI Remote Sensing, revealed the discovery of a substantial section of the West Slope of the Andes going through significant greening in the past 20 years. This area, which extends from Northern Peru to Northern Chile, spanning a length of about 2000km, has seen its greenery growing substantially gradually. This greening pattern differs with altitude, with various plants types at various elevations.
More interestingly this research study, published in MDPI Remote Sensing, exposed the discovery of a huge section of the West Slope of the Andes going through considerable greening in the previous 20 years. This greening trend varies with altitude, with different greenery 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 gradually in this area. They outlined 450 data points and established a mathematical design to remove artificial variations (such as cloudy days) and seasonality, and used analytical analysis to make sure that they were just evaluating locations with a significant trend.
Overstated 3D model of the Peruvian Andes with an overlay of the greening strip, the green location represents a boost in the Enhanced Vegetation Index with darker locations corresponding to a bigger relative greening. Credit: Hugo Lepage, Cavendish Laboratory
” It took three years to arrange the approach and the statistical design,” said Hugo Lepage, a mathematician at the Cavendish laboratory and first author of the study. “We truly required to bulletproof it to make certain that something was truly taking place on an enormous scale, and it was not just a fluke.”
Ground Observations Corroborate Satellite Data
To verify what they were seeing in the information, the scientists carried out various school outing to make observations on the ground to support their mathematical declarations.
” We started with an extremely area to study the impact of mining on regional plant life,” explained Eustace Barnes, a geographer in the Cavendish Laboratorys Environmental Physics Group, which ran the research study. “To our surprise, the data was recommending that the location was greening rather of browning. So, we zoomed out and realized other locations were also greening on a big scale. When we went to check on the ground, we observed a similar pattern.”
Uncommon Features and Climate Anomalies
Beyond the empirical observation of the greening strip itself, the scientists were struck by its unexpected features.
An image of the Peruvian Andes.
” First, the strip rises as we look southward, going from 170-780 m in northern Peru to 2600-4300 m in the south of Peru”, discussed Barnes. “This is counterproductive, as we would anticipate the surface area temperatures to drop both when moving south and rising in altitude.”
A lot more surprisingly, this substantial greening strip does not line up with the environment zones developed by the Köppen-Geiger classification– the extensively utilized, vegetation-based, empirical climate classification system, whereas the greening and browning patterns in the coastal deserts and high Andes, do match well.
” Indeed, in northern Peru, the greening strip primarily lies in the environment zone representing the hot dry desert,” stated Lepage. “As we scan the strip going south, it ascends to lie primarily in the hot dry steppe and lastly passes through to depend on the cold dry steppe. This did not match what we expected based on the climate in those regions.”
Implications and Conclusions
The outcomes of this study have far-reaching implications for environmental management and policymaking in the area. Although the exact cause or resulting consequences of this greening are not known, any large modification (30-60% index boost) in vegetation will necessarily have an influence on environments and the environment.
” The Pacific slope provides water for two-thirds of the nation, and this is where the majority of the food for Peru is originating from too,” said Barnes. “This rapid change in greenery, and to water level and communities, will inevitably have an effect on water and agricultural planning management.”
The scientists think their findings will contribute substantially to the clinical communitys understanding of the intricate interactions in between climate change and delicate ecosystems in semi-arid and arid environments.
” This is a caution indication, like the canary in the mine. There is absolutely nothing we can do to stop changes on such a large scale. Knowing about it will assist to plan better for the future,” concluded Lepage.
Recommendation: “Greening and Browning Trends on the Pacific Slope of Peru and Northern Chile” by Hugo V. Lepage, Eustace Barnes, Eleanor Kor, Morag Hunter and Crispin H. W. Barnes, 21 July 2023, Remote Sensing.DOI: 10.3390/ rs15143628.
This research was performed by the Environmental Physics Group led by Prof. Crispin Barnes and funded by Universidad Nacional de Cañete (UNDC), dpto Lima, Peru.
