Urban green space (UGS) can be regarded as an effective approach to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effects. Many studies have investigated the impacts of composition and configuration of UGS on land surface temperature (LST), while little attention has been paid to the impacts among different urban blocks. Thus, taking 1835 urban blocks in Beijing as samples, including low-rise point (LRP), low-rise street (LRS), low-rise block (LRB), mid-rise point (MRP), mid-rise street (MRS), mid-rise block (MRB), high-rise point (HRP), high-rise street (HRS) and high-rise block (HRB), this study investigated the impacts of UGS on LST among different urban blocks. The results showed that UGS serves as cold islands among different urban blocks. Percentage of landscape (PLAND) of UGS in all types of urban blocks, edge density (ED) of UGS in MRS, area-weighted fractal dimension index (FRAC_AM) of UGS in HRS and HRB show significantly negative impacts on LST, while aggregation index (AI) of UGS in LRP shows significantly positive impacts. The findings suggest that both composition and configuration of UGS can affect LST among different urban blocks and rational allocation of UGS would be effective for mitigating UHI effects.

Understanding the cooling effect (CE) of urban parks is vital to mitigate the urban heat islands. ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) land surface temperature data (LST) data were used to construct diurnal thermal variations to explore the CE of urban parks in the fifth ring regions of Beijing. Local climate zone (LCZ) classification was used to distinguish different parks for examining the internal CE of parks. New subclasses of LCZ (e.g., LCZAG, LCZBG, LCZCG) were created based on the basic subclasses, such as LCZA (mainly consist of dense trees), LCZB (scattered tress with dense bush), LCZC (scattered bush), and LCZG (water). The external CE of parks was evaluated in different directions, and the impacts of buildings around parks on the external CE were also analyzed. The results showed that urban parks tended to heat up slower than the whole urban regions during the daytime, and water releasing energy dominated the mean LST of parks at night. Large parks meeting the minimum area (40,000 m²) of LCZ had better CE inside each park during the daytime. Three hundred thirty four large parks were divided into six types of LCZ. The strength of the CE decrease with the increases of distance, and seemed to exist at a distance of up to 150–200 m. Such impacts of parks were insignificant at night. In addition, parks containing certain dense trees and water had better CE inside and out. The height and density of buildings had a relatively obvious impact on the CE of parks. This study can provide insight into the impacts of urban parks on the urban thermal environment and promote the CE of urban parks in future urban planning.

The development of ski areas would bring socio-economic benefits to mountain regions. At present, the ski industry in China is developing rapidly, and the number of ski areas is increasing dramatically. However, the understanding of the spatial pattern and driving factors for these ski areas is limited. This study collected detailed data about ski areas and their surrounding natural and economic factors in China. Criteria for classification of ski areas were proposed, and a total of 589 alpine ski areas in China were classified into three types: ski resorts for vacationing (va-ski resorts), ski areas for learning (le-ski areas) and ski parks to experience skiing (ex-ski parks), with proportions of 2.1%, 15.4% and 82.5%, respectively, which indicated that the Chinese ski industry was still dominated by small-sized ski areas. The overall spatial patterns of ski areas were clustered with a nearest neighbor indicator (NNI) of 0.424, in which ex-ski parks and le-ski areas exhibited clustered distributions with NNIs of 0.44 and 0.51, respectively, and va-ski resorts were randomly distributed with an NNI of 1.04. The theory and method of spatial autocorrelation were first used to analyze the spatial pattern and driving factors of ski areas. The results showed that ski areas in cities had a positive spatial autocorrelation with a Moran’s index value of 0.25. The results of Local Indications of Spatial Association (LISA) showed that ski areas were mainly concentrated in 3 regions: the Beijing-centered Yanshan-Taihang Mountains and Shandong Hill areas, the Harbin-centered Changbai Mountain areas and the Urumqi-centered Tianshan-Altay Mountain areas. The first location was mainly driven by socio-economic factors, and the latter two locations were mainly driven by natural factors. Ski tourism in China still faces many challenges. The government sector should strengthen supervision, develop a ski industry alliance, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the ski industry in the future.

Rapid global warming has caused drastic mass loss in Greenland’s peripheral glaciers and ice caps (GICs), contributing to a rise of global sea levels. To better understand future changes under different emission scenarios, we used the Open Global Glacier Model to simulate glacier dynamics and runoff changes from 2015 to 2100. The results show that their area and volume will decrease by 38.88% (SSP1-2.6) to 60.84% (SSP5-8.5) and 47.56% (SSP1-2.6) to 67.10% (SSP5-8.5) by 2100, with regions that have larger glacierized areas and are farther from the ocean experiencing less volume loss. Meanwhile, the predicted surface mass balance of Greenland’s peripheral GICs in 2100 is −0.58 ± 0.92, −1.18 ± 1.13, −2.04 ± 0.79 and −3.16 ± 0.96 m w.e. a⁻¹ under four emission scenarios. The runoff under higher emission scenarios is larger than that under lower emission scenarios, with peak water occurring later in regions that have larger glacierized areas and are farther from the ocean.

Glacier classification offers a structured framework for assessing glacier characteristics and understanding their responses to climate change. In this study, we apply the Shi–Xie glacier classification system, proposed by Chinese glaciologists Shi and Xie, to evaluate the transformation of extremely continental, subcontinental, and maritime glaciers across China over the past four decades. Our results show a widespread rise in equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs), alongside complex changes in climatic and glaciological parameters. Notably, despite ongoing warming trends, nearly half of the glaciers experienced cooling at the ELA, and over two-thirds showed a decline in summer mean temperatures. This apparent contradiction is explained by elevation-induced cooling; as ELAs rise to higher altitudes, the corresponding summer air temperatures decline due to the lapse rate effect. Near-surface ice temperatures (20 m depth) were strongly consistent with changes in annual air temperature. Precipitation trends were spatially heterogeneous, yet around 70% of glaciers experienced stable or slightly increasing annual precipitation. In contrast, maritime glaciers, particularly those in the southeastern glacierized regions, exhibited marked decreases. Glacier surface velocities generally declined, with 90% of glaciers flowing at speeds below 50 m a⁻¹. Threshold-based analysis reveals that glaciers in transitional zones frequently exhibit multi-indicator deviations. Extremely continental glaciers near classification boundaries showed a shift toward warmer, wetter subcontinental conditions, while maritime glaciers tended toward drier, colder subcontinental characteristics. These findings offer new insights into the differentiated responses and ongoing transformation of glacier types in China under climate change.