Evapotranspiration (ET)—the distribution and partitioning of which is strongly mediated by
vegetation—is central to the water, energy and carbon cycles. In this Review, we examine …

Eastern Africa exhibits bimodal rainfall consisting of long rains (March–May) and short rains
(October–December), changes in which have profound socioeconomic and environmental …

Extreme heat, drought and moisture excess are increasingly co-occurring within a single
growing season, impacting crop yields in global breadbasket regions. In this Review, we …

Climate change has been partially mitigated by an increasing net land carbon sink in the
terrestrial biosphere; understanding the processes that drive this sink is thus essential for …

A comprehensive quantification of global forest fragmentation is urgently required to guide
forest protection, restoration and reforestation policies. Previous efforts focused on the static …

Vegetation indices (VIs), which describe remotely sensed vegetation properties such as
photosynthetic activity and canopy structure, are widely used to study vegetation dynamics …

Recent wildfire outbreaks around the world have prompted concern that climate change is
increasing fire incidence, threatening human livelihood and biodiversity, and perpetuating …

Green water—terrestrial precipitation, evaporation and soil moisture—is fundamental to
Earth system dynamics and is now extensively perturbed by human pressures at continental …

The ongoing phenological changes in vegetation on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau could
modify land surface and atmospheric processes. In this Review, we summarize these …

China is currently the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). China therefore has a
key role in global climate change mitigation. Policies and commitments are required to …