Investigating drivers impacting vegetation carbon sequestration capacity on the terrestrial environment in 127 Chinese cities

Abstract

Vegetation cover significantly improves the terrestrial environment by increasing carbon sequestration capacity. It is projected that a major threat to China's terrestrial environment will be happened by 2030 due to the increment in carbon emissions. Identifying reliable techniques to assess carbon absorption by green coverage is necessary to build a resilient environment. This research examines the performance of two weighted regression models to explain the capacity of vegetation carbon sequestration (VCS), spatial distribution, and degree of influence of vegetation coverage for reducing carbon emission. The results demonstrate changes in the VCS capacity from slow to fast, with an average yearly growth rate of 0.043% (2005–2010) to 1.963% (2010–2015) and more obvious growth in local cities. Variables such as the night-time light index, average relative humidity, and length of sunlight substantially impacted VCS capacity, although their effect varied yearly. Finally, the comparative results show that This study can play an influential role in finding specific locations facing issues with carbon emissions and can support local governments through the association of effective measures to mitigate it.