Global climate change has resulted in significant vegetation changes in the past fifty years. The North China Plain, the most important grain production base of China, is experiencing prominent warming and drying. Vegetation cover, which is used to monitor vegetation change, is affected by climate change, predominantly temperature and precipitation. In the present study, GIMMS (Glaobal Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies)NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectrometer) NDVI, and climate data, during 1981-2013, were used to investigate the spatial distribution and changes of vegetation. The relationship between climate and vegetation on the North China Plain were also analyzed on different spatial (agricultural, forest, and grassland) and temporal (yearly, decadal, and monthly) scales. (1) It was found that the temperature increased slightly (0.20℃/10a, P < 0.01). This may be due to the disappearance of the 0℃ isotherm, the rise of spring temperatures, and the increase of the isotherm (>15℃) area. At the same time, precipitation decreased significantly (-1.75mm/10a, P > 0.05). The expanding of the 400-600 mm precipitation contour area, the narrowing of ranges of 600-800 and 800-1000 mm, and excessive reduction of autumn precipitation indicated less precipitation. The sensitive areas of characteristic climatic change were mainly located between the latitudes 35-39°. The climate mutation occurred during 1991-1994. (2) Vegetation cover increased slightly in 55% of the total study area, with a rate of change of 0.00039/10a. Human activities could accelerate the changes of the vegetation cover and affect the rate of these changes. (3) Overall, the correlation between the vegetation cover and climatic factors is higher for a monthly than yearly scale. The correlation analysis between vegetation cover and climate change showed that annual vegetation cover was positively correlated with precipitation in grassland biomes; but it showed a more positive correlation with temperature in the agricultural and forest biomes. In addition, vegetation cover was temporally sensitive to precipitation. (4) The vegetation cover increased before and after the climate variations, but the rate of increase slowed down. Moreover, the grassland biome had an obvious response to the climatic variations, but the agricultural biome showed a significant response. The effect of human activity in regions of degradation was higher than that in environmentally improved areas. However, after the climate abruptly changing, the effect of human activity in environmentally improvement areas was higher than that in the degraded regions, and the influence of human activity will continue in the future.