Afforestation in China cools local land surface temperature
Peking University · Chinese Academy of Sciences · +11 more institutions
Abstract
China has the largest afforested area in the world (∼62 million hectares in 2008), and these forests are carbon sinks. The climatic effect of these new forests depends on how radiant and turbulent energy fluxes over these plantations modify surface temperature. For instance, a lower albedo may cause warming, which negates the climatic benefits of carbon sequestration. Here, we used satellite measurements of land surface temperature (LST) from planted forests and adjacent grasslands or croplands in China to understand how afforestation affects LST. Afforestation is found to decrease daytime LST by about 1.1 ± 0.5 °C (mean ± 1 SD) and to increase nighttime LST by about 0.2 ± 0.5 °C, on average. The observed…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 23.56
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 26
Authors
9- SPShushi PengCorresponding
Peking University
- SPShilong Piao
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research
- ZZZhenzhong Zeng
Peking University
- PCPhilippe Ciais
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement
- LZLiming Zhou
Albany State University, University at Albany, State University of New York
Topics & keywords
- Afforestation
- Environmental science
- Daytime
- Albedo (alchemy)
- Evapotranspiration
- Global warming
- Climate change
- Atmospheric sciences
- Climate action