| 摘 要： |
Temperature inversion (TI) constitutes a crucial component in the physicochemical processes of the lower troposphere, but disentangling human contributions to its generation from complex environmental factors poses significant challenges. We leveraged the unique natural experiment prompted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to estimate changes in TI incidence and temperature difference ( increment T) caused by the economic shutdown in the first half of 2020 across 500 major cities worldwide. We found that increment T declined by 2.5% and TI incidence declined by 18.2% compared to 2016-2019, exhibiting spatial-temporal heterogeneity and pronounced declines in cities with higher levels of economic development and emission reduction. Moreover, we demonstrated that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) may serve as a mediating pathway through which human activities influence air thermal properties, and climate categories modulate this mediating effect. Our analysis provides empirical evidence of human influence on the vertical thermal structure of the atmosphere. Near-surface temperature inversion (TI) is a typical indicator reflecting the vertical structure of the atmosphere and is closely related to human socioeconomic activities. However, due to the complicated interplay between anthropogenic and natural factors, quantifying human contributions to TI generation poses significant challenges. In this study, we utilized the economic shutdown during the first wave of COVID-19 (the first half of 2020) across 500 cities worldwide to estimate changes in TI incidence and temperature difference ( increment T) between atmospheric pressure layers compared to parallel levels in 2016-2019. We found that increment T declined by 2.5% and TI incidence declined by 18.2% during the shutdown period as a consequence of disrupted socioeconomic activities. The magnitude of this effect varies with urban climate and economic level and is highly correlated with anthropogenic emissions. Furthermore, we demonstrated that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) may serve as a mediating pathway through which human activities impact atmospheric thermal properties. Notably, the effect of PM2.5 is climate-dependent, being most pronounced in boreal cities but least significant in tropical regions. This study enriches our understanding of human influence on the vertical thermal structure of the atmosphere. Reduced human activities during the COVID-19 led to a 18.2% decrease in the incidence of temperature inversion (TI) across global cities TI responses monotonously to reduced economic activities, prominent for urban areas with greater reduction in anthropogenic emissions PM2.5 serves as a mediator through which humans impact the vertical thermal structure, with the effect size being climate-dependent |
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