Fiscal decentralization,government innovation preference,and haze pollution

Local governments are the dominant players in haze pollution control; furthermore, financial power reconstruction affects the effectiveness of haze control. Government innovation preference achieves win-win results for environmental protection and economic development by increasing innovation support. Therefore, a moderating variable for government innovation preference was added to the fiscal decentralization effect on haze pollution, and their interactive effect on haze pollution was studied. This study was conducted in 30 provincial regions. Thus, the severity of regional haze pollution differs because of temporal heterogeneity and asynchronous development. Furthermore, we analyzed the impact on haze pollution from the perspectives of the temporal and spatial differences in different regions of China. The results indicate that (1) fiscal decentralization increases haze pollution, while government innovation preferences control it. (2) In a local evaluation model with a diversified background, fiscal decentralization restrains haze pollution, and pollution source complexity reduces government innovation preference’s control pollution function. The interaction term revealed that government innovation preferences had a significant moderating effect. (3) Fiscal decentralization and government innovation preferences control the heterogeneity of haze pollution in different regions.

     

Controlling environmental pollution: dynamic role of fiscal decentralization in CO2 emission in Asian economies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The “environment” has become one of the important and debatable topics of the world and policymakers identifying the new predictors of CO2...     

Effects of special fiscal revenue on industrial pollution and the spatial spillover: evidence from 30 provinces in China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In China, industrial pollution is a prominent source of environmental pollution, and the important goal of sustainable development is to reduce...     

Polycentric agglomeration and haze pollution: evidence from China

Polycentric agglomeration has gradually become a salient feature of rapid growth in urbanization in China. Using province-level balanced panel data over the period 2000–18, we examine the impact of polycentric agglomeration on haze pollution and its mechanism of action. The results show that the impact of polycentric agglomeration on haze pollution exhibits a significant inverted U-shaped feature. Nevertheless, except for a few provinces where polycentric agglomeration exceeds the turning point, the degree of polycentric concentration in most provinces lies to the left of the turning point. Further, a mediating effect model illustrates that industrial structure rationalization and technological progress are effective paths through which polycentric agglomeration affects haze pollution. Finally, we demonstrate that the effect of polycentric agglomeration on haze pollution is influenced by transportation and communication infrastructure; improved transportation and communication infrastructure contributes to the haze control effect of polycentric agglomeration.

     

Exploring the association between resource dependence and haze pollution in China: the mediating effect of green technology innovation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Haze pollution has been addressed in extensive studies over the last few years. However, the relationship between resource dependence and haze...     

上海市霾污染判别指标体系初步研究

随着全球变暖及工业污染排放的蔓延式发展,由空气污染带来的区域能见度恶化越来越成为中国东部经济发达地区所面临的严重区域性问题,常出现大范围的雾霾天气,造成区域空气质量的恶化及能见度水平的下降.基于对能见度及相对湿度、颗粒物浓度和组分的观测分析及影响能见度的相对湿度和空气污染因子的理论分析,提出了环保范畴内的霾污染概念,并制定了包括能见度、颗粒物浓度及其组分的上海市霾污染判别指标体系,基于颗粒物组分观测数据,对相对湿度因子进行了参数化.根据所提出的指标体系,通过上海市某点位一年观测数据的跟踪分析发现,根据霾污染判别指标体系计算得到的霾污染天数与气象学意义上的霾天数具有很好的对应关系,且新的判别指标体系能很好地区分霾污染和浮尘过程.     

Analysis of the spatial effect of outward foreign direct investment on air pollution: evidence from China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) plays a pivotal role in the strategy to build a high-level and open economy. This research used spatial panel...     

A spatial temporal assessment of pollution from PCBs in China

This research represents an assessment of the current state of pollution from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in China. Various environmental media including sediment, water, organism and soil were analyzed and the spatial character of PCB pollution in each environmental medium was determined. On a national basis, PCB levels in all environmental media were relatively low, with little evidence of major contamination in China's main regions and rivers. However, there were some locations with high PCB concentrations. Sediments in Pearl River (83.1 ng/g) and its estuary (58.9 ng/g), Dalian Bay (58.1 ng/g) and Songhua River (36.8 ng/g) had relatively high level of PCBs. There were also some areas, which were mainly the industrial pollution sites or PCB equipment storage locations, remained seriously polluted with the highest PCB residue level of 150,000 ng/g. In addition, Minjiang Estuary (985.2 ng/g) and Taihu Lake (631 ng/g) had high levels of water pollution, while Pearl Estuary (635.7 ng/g) and Jiaozhou Bay (273.3 ng/g) had relatively high PCB levels in organisms. PCB pollution in soil was limited to a few special pollution areas with the highest PCB level of 4.5448 x 10(6) ng/g. Point source pollution was the common pattern of contamination, influenced primarily by local geographic, economic and historical factors. Analysis of PCB concentrations from the 1980s to 1990s shows an increasing trend, possibly due to the improper disposal of and leakage from PCB containers, chemical transfers, and the general rise of industrial pollution.     

杭州市灰霾天气基本特征及成因分析

根据浙江省近50年的灰霾天气统计数据,总结了浙江省灰霾天气特征。以杭州市为例,从杭州市地形地貌、气候因素和污染物排放因素3方面分析了杭州市灰霾天气成因,介绍了杭州市大气颗粒物污染特征及源解析。结果表明,杭州市灰霾天气频率显著升高,污染物排放是导致灰霾天气发生频率升高的直接原因,杭州市大气颗粒物中以细微颗粒物为主,大气污染类型已从煤烟型污染转变成复合型污染。结合杭州市大气污染现状,初步提出了灰霾天气防控对策。     

2011-2013年中国雾霾易发生期间API的分布格局

以2011-2013年每年的1-3月和10-12月的中国120个城市逐日空气污染指数(API)数据为基础,通过选取最优的空间插值方法获得雾霾易发生期间每月的API空间分布;采用面向对象的分形网络演化算法对API分布图进行图像分割,获取"污染场"基元,通过G*指数的空间聚集分析提取"污染岛"范围;构建城市污染效应比例指数来反映污染效应的时空变化趋势;利用小波变换分析城市大气污染时间序列的多尺度变化特征。结果表明:近3年来雾霾易发生期间API空间分布的高值区域面积呈现不断增大的态势,京津冀、山东半岛、长三角等地污染岛分布面积较大;在时间尺度上,全国七大地理分区的API强度呈现出一定的周期性,污染强度虽未表现出明显的时间差异,但1-3月西部的污染大于东部,10-12月北方的污染大于南方。     

Dynamic effects of fiscal and monetary policy instruments on environmental pollution in ASEAN

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to re-examine the impacts of monetary and fiscal policy on environmental quality in ASEAN countries from 1990 to 2019. We utilized the...     

华北地区温度和风速对冬季灰霾形成的潜在影响

针对华北地区灰霾日渐严重的问题,利用1973—2012年地面气象观测数据,从冬季采暖耗能排污和平均风速变化的角度,结合Mann-Kendall法分析了气候变化背景下华北冬季灰霾相关气象因素的长时间尺度演化规律。研究表明,华北大部地区冬季平均风速明显下降,影响大气污染物稀释扩散,容易积累高浓度污染,有助于抬升灰霾发生的频率和强度;除个别地区受气候变化引发极寒事件影响、采暖度日变化趋势持平外,华北各地受长时间尺度上气候变化所致冬季增温效应影响,采暖日和采暖度日整体呈下降趋势,采暖耗能排污减少,有利于降低粉尘污染排放。因华北地区统一采用固定120 d时限的供暖制度,采暖日和采暖度日的下降并没有转化为采暖耗能排污的下降,个别城市采暖度日甚至有所上升。因华北南部及沿海站点计算得到的采暖日明显低于120 d,在这些城市根据天气条件试行灵活供暖,可能明显降低冬季采暖耗能排污,有助于消解雾霾。     

Formation and evolution of secondary particulate matter during heavy haze pollution episodes in winter in a severe cold climate region of Northeast China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The formation and evolution of sulfate (SO42?) and nitrate (NO3?) secondary contaminants under different stages of pollution episodes and...     

The color of denver haze

Objects change in color and brightness when viewed through polluted air and a haze layer itself has a color and brightness. The color of urban haze, often termed ‘brown’, was originally ascribed to the blue-absorbing gas, nitrogen dioxide (Hodkinson, 1966; Horvath, 1971,1972). More recently, others have shown that a brown coloration of haze can result from either particles or NO₂, or a combination and each case must be considered in detail (Charlson and Ahlquist, 1971; Waggoner and Charlson, 1971; Husar and White, 1976; White and Patterson, 1981; Vanderpol and Humbert, 1981). We are describing teleradiometer measurements in which the haze color and brightness were determined to estimate the relative importance of particle and NO₂ optical extinction to the appearance of winter haze in Denver. During this program in November and December of 1978, we found that the haze was gray, not brown and aerosol particles were more effective than NO₂ in determining haze color and reduced visual range. Our measurements are consistent with coloration calculated from particle extinction and NO₂ concentration measurements.     

厦门市空气污染的空间分布及其与影响因素空间相关性分析

基于空间信息技术、克里格插值与空间相关矩阵,研究厦门市SO2、NO2、PM10和PM2.5污染浓度空间分布特征。通过提取人口密度、道路面积比重、建设用地比重、地表温度及植被指数等空气污染影响因素的空间分布数据,划分研究区为生态区、居住区与工业区,定量评价了污染物浓度与影响因素的空间相关性,并识别出各污染物的主要影响因素。结果表明:污染浓度分布总体上呈现出工业区-居住区-生态区递减的空间特征,其主要受工业排放和机动车排放的影响;SO2与除地表温度外的其他影响因数均有较强空间相关性,PM10和PM2.主要与道路面积比重、建设用地比重具有较强相关性,NO2则与道路面积比重的相关性最强,污染浓度与影响因数空间相关性呈现出工业区-居住区-生态区递增趋势;与按照行政区的划分相比,工业区、居住区、生态区的划分显得更为合理。     

The impact of environmental regulation on environmental pollution in China: an empirical study based on the synergistic effect of industrial agglomeration

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent years, as environmental degradation has become more and more serious, the Chinese government has formulated a series of environmental...     

Impact of haze and air pollution-related hazards on hospital admissions in Guangzhou,China

Guangzhou is a metropolitan in south China with unique pollutants and geographic location. Unlike those in western countries and the rest of China, the appearance of haze in Guangzhou is often (about 278 days per year on average of 4 years). Little is known about the influence of these hazes on health. In this study, we investigated whether short-term exposures to haze and air pollution are associated with hospital admissions in Guangzhou. The relationships between haze, air pollution, and daily hospital admissions during 2008–2011 were assessed using generalized additive model. Studies were categorized by gender, age, season, lag, and disease category. In haze episodes, an increase in air pollutant emissions corresponded to 3.46 (95 % CI, 1.67, 5.27) increase in excessive risk (ER) of total hospital admissions at lag 1, 11.42 (95 % CI, 4.32, 18.99) and 11.57 (95 % CI, 4.38, 19.26) increases in ERs of cardiovascular illnesses at lags 2 and 4 days, respectively. As to total hospital admissions, an increase in NO₂ was associated with a 0.73 (95 % CI, 0.11, 1.35) and a 0.28 (95 % CI, 0.11, 0.46) increases in ERs at lag 5 and lag 05, respectively. For respiratory illnesses, increases in NO₂ was associated with a 1.94 (95 % CI, 0.50, 3.40) increase in ER at lag 0, especially among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Haze (at lag1) and air pollution (for NO₂ at lag 5 and for SO₂ at lag3) both presented more drastic effects on the 19 to 64 years old and in the females. Together, we demonstrated that haze pollution was associated with total and cardiovascular illnesses. NO₂ was the sole pollutant with the largest risk of hospital admissions for total and respiratory diseases in both single- and multi-pollutant models.     

Assessment of vehicular pollution in China

As the motor vehicle population in China continues to increase at an annual rate of approximately 15%, air pollution related to vehicular emissions has become the focus of attention, especially in large cities. There is an urgent need to identify the severity of this pollution in China. Based on an investigation into vehicle service characteristics, this study used a series of driving cycle tests of in-use Chinese motor vehicles for their emission factors in laboratories, which indicated that CO and HC emission factors are 5-10 times higher, and NOx 2-5 times higher, than levels in developed countries. The MOBILE5 model was adapted to the Chinese situation and used to calculate the emission of pollutants from motor vehicles. Results show that vehicle emission is concentrated in major cities, such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Tianjin. Motor vehicle emissions contribute a significant proportion of pollutants in those cities, with contribution rates of CO and NOx greater than 80% and 40%, respectively, in Beijing and Guangzhou. Urban air quality is far worse than the national ambient air quality standard. In conclusion, although China has a relatively small number of motor vehicles, most of them are concentrated within metropolitan areas, and their emissions are closely related to urban air pollution problems in large cities.     

Predictive mapping of air pollution involving sparse spatial observations

A limited number of sample points greatly reduces the availability of appropriate spatial interpolation methods. This is a common problem when one attempts to accurately predict air pollution levels across a metropolitan area. Using ground-level ozone concentrations in the Tucson, Arizona, region as an example, this paper discusses the above problem and its solution, which involves the use of linear regression. A large range of temporal variability is used to compensate for sparse spatial observations (i.e. few ozone monitors). Gridded estimates of emissions of ozone precursor chemicals, which are developed, stored, and manipulated within a geographic information system, are the core predictor variables in multiple linear regression models. Cross-validation of the pooled models reveals an overall R2 of 0.90 and approximately 7% error. Composite ozone maps predict that the highest ozone concentrations occur in a monitor-less area on the eastern edge of Tucson. The maps also reveal the need for ozone monitors in industrialized areas and in rural, forested areas.     

The spatial spillover and threshold effect of green finance on environmental quality: evidence from China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Green finance is a priority for alleviating environmental degradation pressures. Based on panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2017, this...