147876 - Rapid greening response of Chinas 2020 spring.pdf (3.54 MB)
Rapid greening response of China's 2020 spring vegetation to COVID-19 restrictions: implications for climate change
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 04:18 authored by Su, F, Fu, D, Yan, F, Xiao, H, Pan, T, Xiao, Y, Kang, L, Zhou, C, Meadows, M, Vincent LyneVincent Lyne, Wilson, JP, Zhao, N, Yang, X, Liu, GThe 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) negatively affected global public health and socioeconomic development. Lockdowns and travel restrictions to contain COVID-19 resulted in reduced human activity and decreased anthropogenic emissions. However, the secondary effects of these restrictions on the biophysical environment are uncertain. Using remotely sensed big data, we investigated how lockdowns and traffic restrictions affected China's spring vegetation in 2020. Our analyses show that travel decreased by 58% in the first 18 days following implementation of the restrictions across China. Subsequently, atmospheric optical clarity increased and radiation levels on the vegetation canopy were augmented. Furthermore, the spring of 2020 arrived 8.4 days earlier and vegetation 17.45% greener compared to 2015-2019. Reduced human activity resulting from COVID-19 restrictions contributed to a brighter, earlier, and greener 2020 spring season in China. This study shows that short-term changes in human activity can have a relatively rapid ecological impact at the regional scale.
History
Publication title
Science AdvancesVolume
7Issue
35Article number
eabe8044Number
eabe8044Pagination
1-7ISSN
2375-2548Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Place of publication
United StatesRights statement
Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Attribution License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Repository Status
- Open