What my colleagues and I are discovering from our own work in Alaskan tundra is that this shift in vegetationcover has implications -- some good, some bad -- for the animals that depend on it for food and shelter.
This second mission is supposed to loft the Proba-V satellite to collect data on land cover and vegetation changes over the entire globe every couple of days.
There are 17 different land cover types shown in the image, including 11 natural vegetation types such as deciduous and evergreen forests, savannas, and wetlands.