Climate models have previously anticipated the advance of trees to higher elevations in mountainous regions, only to have regional influences such as reindeer populations prove a greater influence. Now a new map of Earth's forest height (above) is showing that whatever is happening with the tree line - the trees themselves in the alpine regions are giving up on reaching for the stars.
In a new analysis of Earth's forest heights, geographers working with light detection and ranging (lidar) satellite imagery have found that trees in alpine zones are getting shorter. In contrast the tropical and boreal forests are getting taller compared to a previous study using the same satellite.
Full list at HowStuffWorks.com.
Total aggregation of HowStuffWorks.com.
Photo credit: Fotolia
