China News Service, Beijing, January 17 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The National Remote Sensing Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China released the "2022 Annual Report on Remote Sensing Monitoring of the Global Ecological Environment" in Beijing on January 17. The characteristics of Arctic vegetation changes under different human activity patterns and intensities show that from 2002 to 2021, the greenness of 77.4% of the Arctic land surface area increased, and it showed an accelerated "greening" trend in the past five years.

The venue of the press conference for the 2022 Annual Report on Remote Sensing Monitoring of the Global Ecological Environment.

Photo courtesy of the National Remote Sensing Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology

　　As an expansion and extension of the "Cryosphere" special series of the annual report on remote sensing monitoring of the global ecological environment, the special topic "Ice, Snow and Vegetation Changes in the Arctic" pointed out that due to global warming and the "amplification effect" of the Arctic in the past 20 years, the Arctic ice, snow and vegetation have been affected. Rapid changes are taking place and are a bellwether of global climate change.

Chinese scientists comprehensively use multi-source remote sensing data such as Fengyun-3 to monitor Arctic sea ice, Greenland ice sheet, and Arctic land vegetation, analyze their temporal and spatial patterns and change characteristics, and assess the influence of factors such as the atmosphere, ocean, and human activities, which can contribute to the development of the Arctic environment. Research on the response of changes to global climate change and provide a scientific basis for addressing global climate change to promote the sustainable development of the Arctic region.

There are three main results and conclusions:

　　First, the extent of Arctic sea ice coverage showed a fluctuating downward trend in September in summer.

Between 2002 and 2021, the extent is reduced by more than 2 million km2, which is nearly 40% of the minimum sea ice extent in 2002.

The proportion of multi-year ice in the total sea ice coverage in winter dropped from 28% to 13%, and multi-year ice was gradually replaced by one-year ice; the annual ice coverage continued to spread, with a growth rate of 59,000 square kilometers per year.

Significant reductions in Arctic sea ice are mainly concentrated in the Eurasian continent and the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska, which provides favorable conditions for the development and utilization of the Arctic Northeast Passage.

　　The second is that from 2002 to 2021, surface melting occurred in all regions of the Greenland ice sheet, and the melting was mainly concentrated at the edge of the ice sheet. The melting range was generally relatively stable, but at the same time, the edge of the Greenland glacier was shrinking as a whole.

China reported that by developing the world's first high-resolution remote sensing data product of Greenland's ice surface water system from 2017 to 2021, the spatial resolution of similar data products has been increased from 30 meters to 10 meters. During these five years, the annual average of Greenland's ice surface water system The area is about 10,000 square kilometers, and the spatial coverage varies significantly from year to year.

High-resolution remote sensing monitoring found that the glacial river is the main component of the ice surface water system of the Greenland ice sheet, accounting for 88.9% of the ice surface water system area.

　　Third, combining high-resolution Arctic artificial surface data and vegetation greenness products, China's latest global report reveals for the first time the characteristics of Arctic vegetation changes under different human activity patterns and intensities.

From 2002 to 2021, the greenness of 77.4% of the Arctic land surface area increased, covering an area of ​​about 5.5 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of ​​the entire Amazon rainforest, and has shown an accelerated "greening" trend in the past five years.

The greenness of vegetation in the Arctic is significantly correlated with temperature, seasonal snow cover, and human activities. The vegetation recovery in areas where human activities have weakened is "green", while in areas where human activities have increased, vegetation coverage and structural functions have been destroyed, showing "brown." change".

　　It is understood that the National Remote Sensing Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China has continued to carry out the "Global Ecological Environment Remote Sensing Monitoring Annual Report" since 2012, carrying out global and intercontinental scale ecological environment remote sensing monitoring and analysis for the country's major strategic needs and issues of common concern to the international community and evaluation fully demonstrates the positive attitude and unique contribution of China's remote sensing technology community to serving human society and solving global ecological and environmental problems.

2022 is the 11th year for this annual report, which includes two topics: "Ice, Snow and Vegetation Changes in the Arctic Region" and "Global Bulk Grain and Oil Crops Production Situation and the Contribution of Multiplanting and Irrigation".

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