Northward Shift of Boreal Tree Cover Confirmed By Satellite Record

By Chris Burns
NASA Scientific Visualization Studio
February 6, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

For the first time, researchers have been able to confirm that our planet’s boreal forests are on the move. Using nearly a quarter million Landsat satellite images spanning 36 years, scientists have confirmed for the first time that Earth’s boreal forest—the planet’s largest forested biome—is shifting northward, revealing unprecedented changes in this critical ecosystem that stores more than a third of the world’s forests and helps regulate our global climate. [5 min. video]

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