Accelerated north–east shift of the global green wave trajectory

Earth’s vegetation follows a rhythmic “green wave” that moves seasonally across the globe. It shapes the life cycles of organisms, biogeochemical cycles, and climate feedbacks, but until now, no intuitive metric existed to track its dynamics. We present a method to track the wave’s center of mass. This “flight path” of the green wave’s centroid reveals a measurable directional drift of ecosystem functioning: The green wave is shifting, with faster changes during Southern Hemisphere summers and an overall northeastward movement. This approach expresses planetary change caused by land use and climate change in kilometers over decades and offers a basis to monitor biosphere dynamics and their interaction with Earth system dynamics and human activity.