Could a Greener Artic Slow the Effects of Climate Change?

"Earlier this month, NASA scientists provided a visualization of a startling climate change trend — the Earth is getting greener, as viewed from space, especially in its rapidly warming northern regions," reports Chris Mooney. "And this is presumably occurring as more carbon dioxide in the air, along with warmer temperatures and longer growing seasons, makes plants very, very happy."

The visuals of a greener Arctic, however, has now given way to new research showing that humans are responsible for those changes. Yes, the greening of the Artic is proof of the human fingerprint on climate change. The question still remains, however, whether the additional plant life now thriving on the planet as a result of human actions will be able to "offset overall global warming over time," as Mooney puts it. 

Some have already begun to take a more optimistic assessment of global warming, such as a report from the U.S. Geologicial Survey which, according to Mooney, speculates that the state of Alaska, "might still be able to stow away more carbon than it loses over the course of the 21st century" (and all that " despite worsening wildfires and more thaw of permafrost").