Greening rates are sensitive to methodology and biology; comment to Sustained greening of the Antarctic Peninsula observed from satellites [Commentary]

Climate change is driving vegetation expansion in polar regions. Roland et al.1 report a 14-fold greening trend across the Antarctic Peninsula region since the 1980s, based on satellite data. However, the study lacks consistent satellite imagery across regions and time, and the greening rate exceeds the theoretical pace at which Antarctic vegetation can expand. While vegetation cover is generally expected to increase with warming, it is likely to do so at much slower rates than reported.