Recently, Yang et al. (2018) reported a decrease in solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) during 2015/2016 El Niño event albeit the increase in enhanced vegetation index (EVI). They interpreted the reduced SIF as a signal of reduced ecosystem photosynthesis. However, we argue that the reduced SIF during 2015/2016 is caused by a decreasing trend of SIF due to sensor degradation and the satellite overpass time is critical for drought impact assessment.