Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are bolstering plant life worldwide.

Grinnell Glacier 8-30-11

Forget what you may have heard from your teacher, your professor, your politician or your pope. Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere are greening the planet–not desertifying it.

Environmental scientists report in a newly published peer-reviewed study that satellite measurements of global plant life contradict assertions by governments that global warming is causing deserts to expand, along with devastating droughts. The findings, published in Geophysical Research , show that rising carbon dioxide levels appear to have caused a remarkable 11 percent increase in foliage in arid regions since 1982.