Global Warming and Land Cover Changes in the Past 38-Year Period (1981–2018)

Environmental observations over the last three decades have shown considerable increase in global temperature and global changes in snow and ice cover, sea level, biological systems timing (plants, birds and etc.) and others. The first 20-year (since 1980s) of global satellite records have shown earlier seasonal vegetation greening, especially in the northern latitudes. Currently, fifteen more years of vegetation health were added to the satellite records provided new evidences in global and regional vegetation trends. NOAA/NESDIS has recently developed 38-year (1981-2018) global 4 km² resolution satellite records combining three adjusted satellite systems NOAA/AVHRR, S-NPP/VIIRS and J-1/VIIRS (started from NOAA-20). The records include such products as vegetation greenness, radiative temperature, vegetation health, drought, fire risk, moisture and thermal vegetation stress and others. This presentation will discuss the nearly four decades changes in land greenness, drought start, area, intensity, duration, vegetation health following moisture and thermal stress, crop production and others during the period of an intensive climate warming.