Researchlandsatremote sensingboreal forestcarbon sequestration
Boreal Forests Shift Northward And Expand
9.8
A study led by Feng and colleagues, published in Biogeosciences in February 2026, used Landsat imagery and machine learning to generate 30 m annual tree-cover maps from 1984–2020. The analysis found boreal forests expanded by about 0.844 million km² (12%) and shifted north by ~0.29°, with young stands storing 1.1–5.9 Pg C and potential additional sequestration of 2.3–3.8 Pg if matured.
Key Points
- 1Quantified expansion of boreal forest by ~0.844 million km² (12%) and 0.29° northward shift
- 2Leveraged 1984–2020 Landsat time series and ML to produce 30 m annual tree-cover maps
- 3Estimated young stands hold 1.1–5.9 Pg C and could sequester 2.3–3.8 Pg if matured
Scoring Rationale
Strong novelty, global scope, and peer-reviewed NASA-backed data; slight uncertainty from temporal coverage and methodological assumptions.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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