Afforestation in China cools local land surface temperature

TLDR

China’s vast afforested area is the largest globally, and tree planting boosts carbon storage while altering local albedo and turbulent energy fluxes, thereby influencing regional climate. The study delivers new observational evidence on how large‑scale afforestation in China affects land surface temperature. Afforestation reduces daytime LST through enhanced evapotranspiration but increases nighttime LST, with the nighttime warming offsetting daytime cooling in dry regions, underscoring the need to carefully select planting sites to maximize climatic benefits.

Abstract

Significance China has the largest afforested area in the world. Afforestation not only contributes to increased carbon storage but also alters local albedo and turbulent energy fluxes, which offers feedback on the local and regional climate. This study presents previously unidentified observational evidence of the effect of large-scale afforestation on land surface temperature (LST) in China. Afforestation decreases daytime LST, because of enhanced evapotranspiration, and increases nighttime LST. This nighttime warming tends to offset daytime cooling in dry regions. These results suggest it is necessary to carefully consider where to plant trees to achieve potential climatic benefits in future afforestation projects.