Artificial light at night reveals hotspots and rapid development of industrial activity in the Arctic
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Akandil, Cengiz; Plekhanova, Elena; Rietze, Nils; Oehri, Jacqueline; Roman, Miguel O.; Wang, Zhuosen; Radeloff, Volker C.; Strub, Gabriela Schaepman -
署名单位：
University of Zurich; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow & Landscape Research; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison
刊物名称：
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ISSN/ISSBN：
0027-13652
DOI：
10.1073/pnas.2322269121
发表日期：
2024-10-29
关键词：
摘要：
Climate warming enables easier access and operation in the Arctic, fostering industrial and urban development. However, there is no comprehensive pan- Arctic overview of industrial and urban development, which is crucial for the planning of sustainable development of the region. In this study, we utilize satellite- derived artificial light at night (ALAN) data to quantify the hotspots and the development of light- emitting human activity across the Arctic from 1992 to 2013. We find that out of 16.4 million km2 analyzed a total area of 839,710 km2 (5.14%) is lit by human activity with an annual increase of 4.8%. The European Arctic and the oil and gas extraction regions in Russia and Alaska are hotspots of ALAN with up to a third of the land area lit, while the Canadian Arctic remains dark to a large extent. On average, only 15% of lit area in the Arctic contains human settlement, indicating that artificial light is largely attributable to industrial human activity. With this study, we provide a standardized approach to spatially assess human industrial activity across the Arctic, independent from economic data. Our results provide a crucial baseline for sustainable development and conservation planning across the highly vulnerable Arctic region.