The overall continental trend is woody plant expansion, particularly in grasslands and savannas, with woody plant cover increasing at a rate of 2.4% per decade . There is also increased grass cover in arid regions in southwestern Africa . There is high agreement that this is attributable to increased CO2, warmer and wetter climates, declines in burned area and release from herbivore browsing pressure, but the relative importance of these interacting drivers remains uncertain . Woody encroachment is the dominant trend in the western and central Sahel, occurring over 24% of the region, driven primarily by shifts in rainfall timing and recovery from drought . Remote sensing studies demonstrate greening in southern Africa and forest expansion into water-limited savannas in central and west Africa , with increases in precipitation and atmospheric CO2 the probable determinants of change . These trends of greening and woody plant expansion stand in contrast to the desertification and contraction of vegetated areas highlighted in AR5 , but are based on multiple studies and longer time series of observations. Reported cases of desertification and vegetation loss, for example,
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report