Mainstreaming the local climate zone framework for climate-resilient cities.

The local climate zone framework is valuable for building climate-resilient cities but is limited in application. This limitation can be resolved by addressing three aspects: transdisciplinary dialog, global atlas construction, and cost–benefit assessment.

Annual 30 m land cover dataset on the Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2023.

Accurate land cover data was fundamental for formulating sound land planning and sustainable development strategies. This study focused on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), a globally sensitive ecological area, and developed a locally tailored annual 30 m resolution land cover dataset from 1990 to 2023 (TPLCD). Leveraging the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform for Landsat data processing, LandTrendr was employed to generate robust, high-precision training samples.

Impacts of meteorological drought on peak vegetation productivity of grasslands from perspectives of canopy structure and leaf physiology.

Frequent drought events greatly decrease the gross primary productivity (GPP) and disturb the carbon dynamics of ecologically fragile grassland ecosystems. While GPP is controlled both by canopy structure-related fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation and leaf physiology-related light use efficiency, the underlying mechanisms of drought-induced decline in photosynthetic capacity remain unclear in grassland ecosystems. Here, we used ground-observed maximum GPP based on flux tower (GPP) and satellite-retrieved maximum solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) within each year as the proxy of photosynthetic capacity of alpine grasslands (AG) and temperate grasslands (TG) in China.

Long-term perspectives on land-use changes and air pollution policies in Iran: A comparative analysis of regional and global patterns in atmospheric PM.

Fine particulate matter (PM) pollution is a major environmental challenge across the Middle East, including Iran. However, a substantial lack of knowledge exists regarding the linkage between aerosol trends, specific compounds, and their interrelation with emissions, mitigation strategies, and land changes. This research comprehensively evaluates the spatiotemporal trends of PM and its main precursors (SO and BC) concentrations in relation to LULC (Land-Use and Land-Cover) changes and mitigation policies in Iran during 1980-2023.

Earlier peak photosynthesis timing potentially escalates global wildfires.

More intense fire weather due to climate change is implicated as a key driver of recent extreme wildfire events. As fuel stock, the role of vegetation and its phenology changes in wildfire dynamics, however is not fully appreciated. Using long-term satellite-based burned areas and photosynthesis observations, we reveal that an earlier peak photosynthesis timing (PPT) potentially acts to escalate subsequent wildfires, with an increase in the global average burned fraction of 0.

Assessment of ecological civilization construction from the perspective of environment and health in China.

This study innovatively evaluated ecological civilization in China from the perspective of environment and health. A Composite Environmental Health Index (CEHI) was constructed based on the Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) and Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) models. Results showed that significant and sustained improvements were observed in the ecological environment after ecological civilization, while economic development continued to progress at a steady pace.

Effectiveness of freezing temperatures on dormancy release of temperate woody species.

Background And Aims: Spring phenological change of plants in response to global warming may affect many ecological processes and functions. Chilling temperature regulates budburst date by releasing dormancy. However, whether freezing temperatures (<0 °C) contribute to dormancy release remains of debate.

Weakening warming on spring freeze-thaw cycle caused greening Earth's third pole.

The Tibetan Plateau, recognized as Earth's third pole and among the most responsive regions to climate shifts, profoundly influences regional and even global hydrological processes. Here, we discerned a significant weakening in the influence of temperature on the initiation of surface freeze-thaw cycle (the Start of Thawing, SOT), which can be ascribed to a multitude of climatic variables, with radiation emerging as the most pivotal factor. Additionally, we showed that the diminishing impact of warming on SOT yields amplified soil moisture within the root zone.

Spring wood phenology responds more strongly to chilling temperatures than bud phenology in European conifers.

A comparative assessment of bud and wood phenology could aid a better understanding of tree growth dynamics. However, the reason for asynchronism or synchronism in leaf and cambial phenology remains unclear. To test the assumption that the temporal relationship between the budburst date and the onset date of wood formation is due to their common or different responses to environmental factors, we constructed a wood phenology dataset from previous literature, and compared it with an existing bud phenology dataset in Europe.

Storyline attribution of human influence on a record-breaking spatially compounding flood-heat event.

Attribution of compound events informs preparedness for emerging hazards with disproportionate impacts. However, the task remains challenging because space-time interactions among extremes and uncertain dynamic changes are not satisfactorily addressed in the well-established attribution framework. For attributing the 2020 record-breaking spatially compounding flood-heat event in China, we conduct a storyline attribution analysis by designing simulation experiments via a weather forecast model, quantifying component-based attributable changes, and comparing with historical flow analogs.

Exploring the worldwide impact of COVID-19 on conflict risk under climate change.

Objectives: Understand whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the risk of different types of conflict worldwide in the context of climate change.

Methodology: Based on the database of armed conflict, COVID-19, detailed climate, and non-climate data covering the period 2020-2021, we applied Structural Equation Modeling specifically to reorganize the links between climate, COVID-19, and conflict risk. Moreover, we used the Boosted Regression Tree method to simulate conflict risk under the influence of multiple factors.

A 2.5° × 2.5° gridded drought/flood grades dataset for eastern China during the last millennium.

Hydroclimate reconstruction for the last millennium is essential to understand the differences in hydroclimate extremes and their causes under cold/warm conditions. In this study, the first gridded drought/flood grades (D/F grades) dataset in eastern China (EC) during the last millennium was generated. This D/F grades dataset mainly consisted of two components.

Exploring the direct and indirect impacts of climate variability on armed conflict in South Asia.

Although numerous studies have examined the effects of climate variability on armed conflict, the complexity of these linkages requires deeper understanding to assess the causes and effects. Here, we assembled an extensive database of armed conflict, climate, and non-climate data for South Asia. We used structural equation modeling to quantify both the direct and indirect impacts of climate variability on armed conflict.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) trends from land surface changes and air pollution policies in China during 1980-2020.

High levels of fine particulate matter (PM) pose a severe air pollution challenge in China. Both land use changes and anthropogenic emissions can affect PM2.5 concentrations.

Winter warming offsets one half of the spring warming effects on leaf unfolding.

Winter temperature-related chilling and spring temperature-related forcing are two major environmental cues shaping the leaf-out date of temperate species. To what degree insufficient chilling caused by winter warming would slow phenological responses to spring warming remains unclear. Using 27,071 time series of leaf-out dates for 16 tree species in Europe, we constructed a phenological model based on the linear or exponential function between the chilling accumulation (CA) and forcing requirements (FR) of leaf-out.

Modeling the effect of adaptation to future climate change on spring phenological trend of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).

Temperate trees could cope with climate change through phenotypic plasticity of phenological key events or adaptation in situ via selection on genetic variation. However, the relative contribution of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity to phenological change is unclear for many ecologically important tree species. Here, we analyzed the leaf-out data of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.

Mapping 20 years of irrigated croplands in China using MODIS and statistics and existing irrigation products.

As a routine agricultural practice, irrigation is fundamental to protect crops from water scarcity and ensure food security in China. However, consistent and reliable maps about the spatial distribution and extent of irrigated croplands are still unavailable, impeding water resource management and agricultural planning. Here, we produced annual 500-m irrigated cropland maps across China for 2000-2019, using a two-step strategy that integrated statistics, remote sensing, and existing irrigation products into a hybrid irrigation dataset.

Low temperature and short daylength interact to affect the leaf senescence of two temperate tree species.

Temperature and photoperiod are two major environmental cues shaping the leaf senescence of temperate tree species. However, how the control of leaf senescence is split between photoperiod and temperature is unknown for many ecologically important species. Here, we conducted a growth chamber experiment to test the effects of temperature (6, 9, 18 and 21°C) and photoperiod (8 and 16 h daylength) on leaf senescence of two temperate tree species (Quercus mongolica Fisch.

Stronger Spring Phenological Advance in Future Warming Scenarios for Temperate Species With a Lower Chilling Sensitivity.

Spring warming could induce earlier leaf-out or flowering of temperate plant species, and decreased chilling in winter has a delaying effect on spring phenology. However, the relative contribution of the decreased chilling and increased forcing on spring phenological change is unclear. Here, we analyzed the experimental data for 14 temperate woody species in Beijing, China and quantified the forcing requirements (FR) of spring phenology and chilling sensitivity (the ratio of the FR at the low chilling condition to the FR at the high chilling condition) for each species.

Modelling armed conflict risk under climate change with machine learning and time-series data.

Understanding the risk of armed conflict is essential for promoting peace. Although the relationship between climate variability and armed conflict has been studied by the research community for decades with quantitative and qualitative methods at different spatial and temporal scales, causal linkages at a global scale remain poorly understood. Here we adopt a quantitative modelling framework based on machine learning to infer potential causal linkages from high-frequency time-series data and simulate the risk of armed conflict worldwide from 2000-2015.

Assessing environmental thresholds in relation to plant structure and nutritional value for improved maize calendar ensuring food security.

The environment has been continuously changed, and it's a bitter truth that we can't minimize anthropogenic activities to mitigate harmful impacts on the environment. The changing environment is a great threat to food security by affecting crop yields. However, there is no comprehensive study to assess the environmental impact on the nutritional quality of the crops.

Climate-associated major food crops production change under multi-scenario in China.

To inform targeted adaptation measures, comprehensive assessments of climate change impacts on agricultural systems are urgently needed. The current study analyzed the production (including phenology, yield, ET, and WUE) of major crops in the near future (2011-2040) through probabilistic assessment. The Crop-Environment Resource Synthesis (CERES)-Wheat/Maize model was driven by ensemble climate projections from five global climate models (GCMs) under three emission scenarios (RCP2.

Change of extreme snow events shaped the roof of traditional Chinese architecture in the past millennium.

As a symbol of civilization and culture, architecture was originally developed for sheltering people from unpleasant weather or other environmental conditions. Therefore, architecture is expected to be sensitive to climate change, particularly to changes in the occurrence of extreme weather events. However, although meteorological factors are widely considered in modern architecture design, it remains unclear whether and how ancient people adapted to climate change from the perspective of architecture design, particularly on a millennium time scale.