Afforestation in China cools local land surface temperature.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 111(8): 2915-9, 2014 Feb 25.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24516135
ABSTRACT
China has the largest afforested area in the world (â¼62 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 daytime cooling is a result of increased evapotranspiration. The nighttime warming is found to increase with latitude and decrease with average rainfall. Afforestation in dry regions therefore leads to net warming, as daytime cooling is offset by nighttime warming. Thus, it is necessary to carefully consider where to plant trees to realize potential climatic benefits in future afforestation projects.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Temperatura
/
Árvores
/
Mudança Climática
/
Ecossistema
/
Modelos Teóricos
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China