Su Fenzhen, Fu Dongjie, Yan Fengqin, Xiao Han, Pan Tingting, Xiao Yang, Kang Lu, Zhou Chenghu, Meadows Michael, Lyne Vincent, Wilson John P, Zhao Na, Yang Xiaomei, Liu Gaohuan
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Sci Adv. 2021 Aug 25;7(35). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe8044. Print 2021 Aug.
The 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.
2019年新型冠状病毒大流行（COVID-19）对全球公共卫生和社会经济发展产生了负面影响。为遏制COVID-19而实施的封锁和旅行限制导致人类活动减少，人为排放降低。然而，这些限制对生物物理环境的次生影响尚不确定。利用遥感大数据，我们研究了封锁和交通限制如何影响2020年中国春季植被。我们的分析表明，在中国实施限制措施后的前18天内，出行量下降了58%。随后，大气光学清晰度提高，植被冠层的辐射水平增强。此外，与2015-2019年相比，2020年春天提前8.4天到来，植被绿度增加了17.45%。COVID-19限制导致的人类活动减少，使得中国2020年春季更明亮、更早且更绿。这项研究表明，人类活动的短期变化可在区域尺度上产生相对迅速的生态影响。
