Department of Marine Science, Incheon National University, Incheon 22012, Republic of Korea; Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge, Downing College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
CIRA, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Jan;174:113175. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113175. Epub 2021 Nov 23.
The Yellow Sea, characterized as a high-productivity ecosystem, is considered to be significantly attributable to high nutrient supply via atmospheric deposition. We observed a significant decline in phytoplankton biomass (~30%) over the Yellow Sea during February-May 2020 (period of COVID-19 lockdown effect) compared to the same period in 2015-2019 (period of no effect of COVID-19 lockdown). Several possible factors, such as variations in irradiance, vertical mixing, and river discharges, were not major contributors. Through the analysis of transportation and the constituents of atmospheric pollutants from Northern China (main source regions) to the Yellow Sea, we suggest that the decline in phytoplankton biomass over the Yellow Sea is mainly attributed to decreased atmospheric nutrient deposition due to the COVID-19 lockdown effect, because of decreased anthropogenic emissions in Northern China. Thus, attention should be focused on the Yellow Sea ecosystem response to increasing anthropogenic activities by lifting the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
黄海是一个高生产力的生态系统，其高营养物质供应主要归因于大气沉降。与 2015-2019 年（无 COVID-19 封锁效应时期）同期相比，我们观察到 2020 年 2 月至 5 月（COVID-19 封锁效应时期）黄海浮游植物生物量显著下降（约 30%）。光照、垂直混合和河流排放等几个可能的因素并不是主要原因。通过对来自中国北方（主要源区）输送到黄海的大气污染物及其成分的分析，我们认为黄海浮游植物生物量的下降主要归因于 COVID-19 封锁效应导致的大气营养物质沉积减少，这是由于中国北方人为排放减少。因此，应关注 COVID-19 封锁限制解除后，黄海生态系统对不断增加的人为活动的响应。
