经济发展与环境污染脱钩理论及EKC假说的关系——兼论中国地级城市的脱钩划分

脱钩理论与EKC假说,两者都描述了经济发展与环境污染之间的动态关系,其中,脱钩理论揭示了经济发展与环境压力是否同步变化的关联,而EKC假说先于脱钩理论出现,并阐述了环境污染随着经济发展水平呈现出的非线性关系。本研究基于脱钩理论与EKC假说的理论内涵,首先通过数理模型的推导,得到了二者的内在联系,并运用一阶差分GMM方法对此进行实证检验。基于数理分析和一阶差分GMM估计的实证结果显示,脱钩理论与EKC假说均呈现出先上升后下降的倒"U"型曲线特征,且相对脱钩与绝对脱钩的临界点正好对应于EKC的拐点。其次,结合二者的关联,本研究将人均GDP水平加入脱钩类型的判定标准,在传统脱钩状态分类的基础上,以EKC拐点处所对应的人均GDP水平,以及数值为0.8的脱钩弹性系数为两条分界线,进一步将城市的经济发展与环境污染脱钩关系类型划分为6种形态,分别为"高收入未脱钩"、"低收入未脱钩"、"低收入相对脱钩"、"高收入相对脱钩"、"低收入绝对脱钩"和"高收入绝对脱钩"。最后,本研究将理论部分所做的推导以及脱钩的象限划分应用于实际的城市脱钩案例研究中,并依据一阶差分GMM的回归结果,将中国271个地级城市的经济发展与污染排放的脱钩状态进行了归类。对2004—2013年中国271个地级城市的经验分析表明,近50%的城市尚处于"低收入未脱钩"和"低收入相对脱钩"状态,意味着中国地级城市发展不平衡,且城市内部的脱钩发展与经济发展不匹配问题突出,这些城市在未来的绿色脱钩建设过程中将长期面临着"保增长"和"促脱钩"的双重任务。     

Rhetorical Recommendations Built on Ecological Experience: A Reassessment of the Challenge of Environmental Communication

This article reconsiders the challenge of environmental communication by inquiring into the fundamental rhetorical difficulty of thinking in terms of ecology. We discuss two essential yet bewildering aspects of ecology: its focus on interconnection and its use of multiple scales. On this basis, we distil six rhetorical recommendations: a shift from appealing to pre-existing values to avenues for transforming values; a shift from arguments from authority to addressing legitimate resistances; a shift from a focus on mutual agreement to a mutual bewilderment; a shift from intellectual comprehension to personal experience; a shift from negative effects to positive connections; and, finally, a shift from a focus on political results to local transformations. We experiment with this rhetorical approach through two applications: for critical reassessments of past articulations we consider the Gaia Hypothesis and Deep Ecology, and for current refinements to environmental problems we consider controversies around Marcellus Shale gas development     

The effects of testosterone on antibody production and plumage coloration in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

Many bird species have patches of colour in their plumage, contrasting with their basic coloration, which are used to display and signal status to conspecifics. These are called ’badges of status’, because they are believed to be low-cost signals of social status. For a signalling system to be evolutionarily stable, cheating must be controlled. The conventional view is that there is frequent testing, which uncovers cheats. Recently, the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) suggested that signals may be dependent on testosterone for their development, with a cost being imposed through immune suppression. We report experiments on house sparrows (Passer domesticus) which show that testosterone significantly influences the size of the bib (a ’badge of status’). The ultimate effect of the testosterone manipulation was to impair antibody production, as predicted by the ICHH. However, testosterone manipulations also changed the levels of the ’stress hormone’ corticosterone. The level of corticosterone was also related to the degree of immunosuppression. After controlling for the effect of corticosterone, testosterone enhanced the birds’ ability to produce antibodies, counter to the ICHH. The hypothesis therefore must be modified. We suggest that testosterone has a dual effect: it leads to immunosuppression through a mechanism involving corticosterone but, conversely, leads to increased immunocompetence probably via dominance influencing access to resources. Received: 5 March 1999 / Received in revised form: 1 October 1999 / Accepted: 16 October 1999     

Another outlook into energy-growth nexus in Mexico for sustainable development: Accounting for the combined impact of urbanization and trade openness

This study corroborates the importance of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG-7), intended to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable energy for all, and SDG-8, designed to promote decent work and sustainable economic growth. This article is motivated by the highlighted SDGs and empirically explores the long-run and causality relationship between energy consumption, urbanization, trade openness, and economic growth for annual frequency data from 1965 to 2021 for the case of Mexico. To this end, we leverage the use of fully modified ordinary least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares, and canonical regression estimation methods, while for the direction of causality, the gradual shift and wavelet coherence methods are used. According to the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), the bounds test traces a long-run relationship between the outlined variables over the sampled period. Empirical evidence validates the energy-induced growth hypothesis. This result resonates with the causality analysis, where energy consumption drives economic growth one way in Mexico. This suggests that Mexico cannot embark on energy-conservative policies, as such actions will hurt economic progress. In addition, unidirectional causality is seen between urbanization, trade openness, and economic growth. These findings have far-reaching implications for economic growth and macroeconomic indicators in Mexico. More insights are highlighted in the concluding section.     

Greening the Brazil,Russia, India,China and South Africa (BRICS) economies: Assessing the impact of electricity consumption,natural resources,and renewable energy on environmental footprint

Electricity consumption is a crucial factor in the environmental pollution process, and therefore, its impact needs to be carefully considered by policymakers. This study investigates the relationship between energy consumption, electricity generation, natural resource utilization, and environmental pollution in BRICS nations, which have a substantial share in global resource consumption. To this end, we employed a novel methodology, namely the Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), for the time period between 1990 and 2018, within the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory. The study's outcome shows that natural resources and renewable energy are efficacious and significant in curbing environmental degradation among the sample countries. The investigation reveals a positive correlation between electricity consumption and environmental degradation, thereby highlighting this vital resource's role in exacerbating the BRICS nations’ ecological footprint. The findings from this research can provide crucial insights for policymakers to achieve sustainable development and carbon neutrality in these countries.     

Trophic Cascades Following the Disease‐Induced Decline of an Apex Predator,the Tasmanian Devil

As apex predators disappear worldwide, there is escalating evidence of their importance in maintaining the integrity and diversity of the ecosystems they inhabit. The largest extant marsupial carnivore, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction from a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). The disease, first observed in 1996, has led to apparent population declines in excess of 95% in some areas and has spread to more than 80% of their range. We analyzed a long‐term Tasmania‐wide data set derived from wildlife spotlighting surveys to assess the effects of DFTD‐induced devil decline on populations of other mammals and to examine the relative strength of top–down and bottom–up control of mesopredators between 2 regions with different environmental conditions. Collection of the data began >10 years before DFTD was first observed. A decrease in devil populations was immediate across diseased regions following DFTD arrival, and there has been no indication of population recovery. Feral cats (Felis catus) increased in areas where the disease was present the longest, and feral cat occurrence was significantly and negatively associated with devils. The smallest mesopredator, the eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus), declined rapidly following DFTD arrival. This result suggests the species was indirectly protected by devils through the suppression of larger predators. Rainfall deficiency was also a significant predictor of their decline. Environmental variables determined the relative importance of top–down control in the population regulation of mesopredators. In landscapes of low rainfall and relatively higher proportions of agriculture and human settlement, top–down forces were dampened and bottom–up forces had the most effect on mesopredators. For herbivore prey species, there was evidence of population differences after DFTD arrival, but undetected environmental factors had greater effects. The unique opportunity to assess population changes over extensive temporal and spatial scales following apex predator loss further demonstrated their role in structuring ecosystems and of productivity in determining the strength of top–down control. Cascadas Tróficas Después de la Declinación Inducida por Enfermedad de un Depredador Apical, el Demonio de Tasmania     

An energetic perspective on the relationship between disturbance and ecosystem productivity

Previous ecological models for disturbance from energetic perspectives have focused on destructive pulses by which storages in a system are quickly drained during disturbance events and recovered thereafter. However, considering the wide range of disturbance intensities, frequencies, and durations in nature, disturbance effects on ecosystem energetics would be better understood by diversifying the disturbance effects on specific system configurations or energy pathways. Based on two hypotheses, we built simulation models of the variable disturbance-productivity relationships observed in a freshwater aquatic microcosm study. First, we hypothesized that disturbances will differentially alter the intrinsic rates of energy pathways in a system. Second, we hypothesized that there is a disturbance threshold where response of the intrinsic rates changes abruptly. Simulation results showed variable patterns of gross primary productivity (GPP) during the disturbance and post-disturbance periods under the diverse scenarios of disturbance effects on the intrinsic rates. Simulation results confirmed that the second hypothesis (i.e., disturbance threshold) was essential to achieve a U-shaped or peaked disturbance-productivity relationship. We evaluated the models by comparing them with the results of the microcosm tests, and suggested possible mechanisms of the variable disturbance-productivity relationships by varying parameters related to the disturbance effects on the intrinsic rates and the disturbance thresholds.     

化学制造业上市公司环境绩效与财务绩效关系研究

选取沪深两市2011年-2014年化学原料和化学制品制造业88家上市公司为研究样本,采用实证分析方法研究两者之间的关系.环境绩效用单位营业收入排污费来衡量,财务绩效用总资产净利率来衡量.考虑到财务绩效的影响因素不仅有环境绩效,所以加入了公司规模等控制变量.分析结果显示,环境绩效与财务绩效并不是相互矛盾的关系,环境绩效的改善可以帮助公司获得更多的经济利润,企业可以在生产经营的同时主动地去履行环境保护的责任,实现环境与经济绩效的共赢.     

Investigating the environmental Kuznets Curve and the role of green energy: Emerging and developed markets

In this study, the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis and the effect of green energy sources to decrease CO₂ emissions are examined for emerging and developed markets from 1990 to 2011 using a pooled mean group (PMG) estimator. Empirical findings of this study suggest that the EKC hypothesis is not confirmed by emerging markets; meanwhile, it is strongly supported by developed markets. The long-run elasticity results of per capita data may also imply a divergence between emerging markets and developed markets regarding CO₂ emissions. On the other hand, the findings of this study indicate that renewable energy sources will play an important role in reducing CO₂ emissions for both panel groups in the long run.     

Chlorinated dioxins and furans as trace products of combustion: Some theoretical aspects

Recent advances in combustion theories are reviewed, especially the detailed mechanisms of hydrocarbon oxidation, formation of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon from aliphatic fuels, and the behavior of halogens in flames. Experimental observations of polychlorinated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) formation in combustion of aliphatic fuels such as acetylene, ethylene and methane in the presence of hydrogen chloride are summarized. Then, from combustion chemistry considerations a reaction mechanism for T₄CDD/F formation in the CH₄/ HCl/O₂ system is developed. This mechanism consists of elementary reactions describing the main oxidation steps, formation of chlorinated C₁‐ to C₄‐species, formation of the first aromatic ring, and T₄CDD/F formation. The mechanism may be extended to other hydrocarbon fuels and higher PCDD/F homologues. Possible relevance of the mechanism to the “trace chemistries of fire hypothesis”; is discussed.