"Earth's Plant Growth Fell Because of Climate Change, Study Finds"

"Drought linked to climate change has reversed a decades-long trend of increased global plant growth, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data.

'Earth has done an ecological about-face,' a NASA statement  said. 'Global plant productivity that once flourished under warming temperatures and a lengthened growing season is now on the decline, struck by the stress of drought.'

Research over the past two decades had shown terrestrial plant growth on the rise, with higher temperatures and longer growing seasons linked to a 6 percent increase in global plant productivity from 1982 to 1999. Between 2000 and 2009, terrestrial plant growth declined by 1 percent."

John Collins Rudolf reports for the New York Times' Green blog August 23, 2010.