County-level CO₂ emissions and sequestration in China during 1997-2017

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Change Research
• Geospatial Analysis

Background:

• China's national CO2 emissions reduction strategy requires consideration of regional disparities.
• County-level data is essential for capturing local heterogeneity, but has been limited by data availability and methodology.
• Previous CO2 emissions studies in China primarily focused on national, provincial, or city levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate county-level CO2 emissions across China from 1997-2017.
• To calculate the carbon sequestration value of terrestrial vegetation at the county level.
• To address data gaps and inform localized CO2 reduction policies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a particle swarm optimization-back propagation (PSO-BP) algorithm.
• Unified and processed DMSP/OLS and NPP/VIIRS satellite imagery.
• Estimated CO2 emissions for 2,735 Chinese counties.

Main Results:

• Provided county-level CO2 emission estimates for China (1997-2017).
• Quantified the carbon sequestration capacity of terrestrial vegetation at the county level.
• Identified significant regional variations in CO2 emissions.

Conclusions:

• The study fills critical data gaps in Chinese county-level CO2 emissions.
• Results support the development of tailored, locally relevant CO2 reduction strategies.
• Highlights the importance of considering sub-national variations for effective climate policy.