Spatiotemporal patterns and characteristics of carbon emissions in the Loess Plateau: A case study of Qingcheng County

Subjects: Geosciences >> Geology submitted time 2022-12-20 Cooperative journals: 《干旱区研究》

龙志 孙颖琦 郎丽霞 陈兴鹏 张子龙 庞家幸

Abstract：

In China, the county is not only an important contributor to carbon emissions and a major carbon sink zone but also a key administrative unit for the implementation of China’s national goals for carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Focusing on Qingcheng County as a typical county in the Loess Plateau, we investigate the carbon emission characteristics and spatiotemporal patterns, to raise awareness of the need for ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin, while achieving high- quality development and green and low carbon transformation. The key results of our study are as follows. (1) The change and structure of county carbon emission in underdeveloped areas have distinct characteristics. Industries below the designated size are the largest source of carbon emissions in Qingcheng County, having a low proportion of industrial carbon emissions but a relatively high proportion of service sector and household carbon emissions. (2) The spatial distribution of carbon emissions in Qingcheng County conforms to the Pareto Principle: 80% of carbon emissions are concentrated in 20% of the region, which is characterized by“overall dispersion and local agglomeration”. The high carbon zones are mainly concentrated in the valley, broken plateau area, and urban area. The medium carbon zones are mainly distributed in the broken plateau area and along the traffic line. Low carbon zones are widely distributed in ridge, hill, and gully areas. (3) The county carbon emissions in the Loess Plateau show clear temporal and spatial pattern differences that are affected by differences in topography. The largest patch index of medium and high carbon zones, such as urban areas, industrial zones, and major towns, increases, the integrity improves, the diversity of carbon sources decreases, and the types tend to be single. The carbon source diversity increases and the aggregation degree decreases in the ecotone between medium carbon zones and low carbon zones, such as transportation lines and residential areas.

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