Global drylands are experiencing faster-than-average warming and are also among the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Meteorological metrics all point to an emerging trend of increased surface aridity, raising concerns of land desertification and degradation. However, recent satellite observations also show lusher drylands, in apparent contradiction to the image of drylands becoming drier. In a new review article published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, an international team comprehensively examined global dryland aridity changes with evidence from the literature and various sources of Earth observations and numerical modeling. A key message of this synthesis is that, by considering the physiological effect of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the apparent paradox between enhanced surface aridity and lusher dryland vegetation can actually be resolved.