Impacts of Vegetation Greening on Summer Mean and Extreme Land Surface Temperatures in Eastern China

Abstract

Vegetation greening in China is known to cool the land surface by altering the energy budget through biophysical processes. However, its mitigation effects on extreme temperatures and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we use coupled land‐atmosphere model simulations to quantitatively assess the effects of vegetation greening on summer mean and extreme land surface temperatures in Eastern China over the 2003–2018 period. We show that the modeled cooling effect on summer mean land surface temperature is more pronounced in arid Northeastern China than in humid Southeastern China, consistent with satellite‐derived temperature responses. In contrast, for extreme hot temperatures, the spatial pattern of the cooling effect reverses, largely because high temperatures accompanied by strong radiation can alleviate energy constraints on evaporative cooling in Southeastern China. These findings underscore the potential role of vegetation greening in mitigating extreme hot extremes, with important implications for local land‐based mitigation and adaptation strategies.