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• This paper aims at quantifying the factors affecting vegetation growth in the western of Inner Mongolia, and judging the relative contribution of natural factors and man-made factors. • It is obtained through geodetectors (GD) that Rainfall is the most important driving factor, with the q-value of 0.77 and GDP also having a huge impact on vegetation growth, q-value of 0.64. • Different from most studies, human activity also has a positive effect on vegetation growth. • The relative contribution of human activities reached 51.75%, slightly exceeding the influence of natural factors. Vegetation is an essential component of terrestrial ecosystems, and understanding the drivers of vegetation change is of great importance for ecological management. In recent years, vegetation growth has increased under the combined effect of global warming and human activities in Inner Mongolia. The net primary productivity (NPP) was used as an indicator to study the spatial and temporal changes in vegetation in the Qimeng Region (QR). The residual trend analysis method was used to analyze the relative contributions of climate variations (CV) and human activities (HA) to NPP changes across the QR, while their drivers were explored using a geographical detector approach to quantify the driving forces of NPP. The results show that (1) NPP exhibited a fluctuating growth trend from 2003 to 2020, with an overall growth rate of 2.91%/year. (2) Precipitation, GDP and population density were the dominant driving factors for the spatial distribution of NPP. The combined explanatory power of any two dominant factors exceeded the power of any dominant individual factor, and the interaction between climate and human factors had a significant effect on NPP. (3) The change in NPP was influenced by the combined effect of HA and CV, accounting for 37.69% of the total area, with the relative contribution of HA being 51.75%. Finally, the relative contribution of human activities was slightly higher than that of climate change, confirming the initial success of the Grain to Green Program as well as ecological conservation projects. This paper provides a scientific basis for the local government to carry out the conversion of cropland to forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The study allows the income elasticity of emissions to vary over time. • It is a first use of the TVC cointegration method to study the CO 2 -GDP relationship. • We found a positive income elasticities of CO 2 emissions in all studied countries. • We found evidence in favor of relative decoupling in 8 out of the 12 countries. Abstract The relationship between CO 2 emissions, the main gas responsible for global warming, and economic growth is among the most studied themes of environmental economics. Reducing overall emissions while keeping a high pace of economic development is at the heart of the sustainable development concept. When emissions grow less rapidly than GDP environmental economists speak of relative decoupling; if emissions even decrease relative to the pace of economic growth, then decoupling is absolute. Assessing these options requires an empirical analysis of the emissions-GDP relationship. The study of this nexus has special importance for developed countries, given their historical responsibility towards global warming. At the same time, in the last decades, the same countries have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change in terms of emissions-reduction efforts. By applying cutting-edge econometric techniques, this paper aims to investigate the decoupling options, if any, for a group of European economies which can be considered as pioneers in pursuing the sustainable development goals. This question gains further importance considering that some recent studies have found positive GDP elasticities of emissions for certain developed countries, which may be seen as a cause of concern for the sustainable development path of such countries. Unlike the bulk of the literature, in this paper, we allow the income elasticity of emissions – a critical indicator for the study of decoupling – to vary over time. The reason is that the elasticity might change through the time due to the factors affecting the main drivers of the CO 2 emissions. We use a time-varying coefficients cointegration approach to investigate the CO 2 emissions-GDP relationship for 12 Western European countries over a long time period ranging from 1861 to 2015. Our main finding is that the income elasticity of CO 2 emissions is positive in all investigated countries. In addition, we find evidence in favor of relative decoupling in 8 out of the 12 European countries. This is in line with the fact that the selected European countries have shown more determination in adopting carbon reduction policies before and after the Kyoto protocol period and toward the Paris agreement compared to other leading economies such as China, United States, and Russia. For the remaining 4 cases, the income elasticity of CO 2 emissions is in excess of unity. This can be considered as a call for policymakers to take quick and relevant measures to mitigate emissions level without harming the economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Significantly changes of LAI and GPP mostly occurred in eastern and southern China. • Divergence between LAI and GPP were found in regions with dense vegetation coverage. • The importance of VPD, SM, and PT to vegetation indices increased as latitude decreases. Climate change notably boosts terrestrial hydraulic redistribution pattern, which could directly affect the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of vegetation productivity. However, the spatiotemporal evolution pattern of long-term hydrometeorological controls of vegetation productivity is still not fully understood. This paper comprehensively explored the impacts of hydrometeorological controls on leaf area index (LAI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) in China during 1982–2015 using both satellite observations and reanalysis. Vapor pressure deficit (VPD), evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation (PT), and soil moisture (SM) were used as representative indicators during investigation. The dynamics of LAI and GPP displayed increasing trends on the whole. And significantly changes mostly occurred in eastern and southern China, accompanied by moderate to dense vegetation coverage. An accelerated increasing trend for LAI could be observed since September 2003 (+0.175 per decade), while the growth rate of GPP (+16.76 g C/m2 per decade) basically maintained stable. In terms of hydrometeorological controls, VPD and ET showed consistently increasing trend and SM presented falling trend in the context of warming climate. Through analysis of feature importance index established by Random Forest, the importance of VPD, SM, and PT obviously increased as latitude decreases, which implied the high sensitivity of vegetation in semi-humid\humid regions to water availability. Additionally, divergence between LAI and GPP can be found in southern Tibet Plateau region and coastal regions, which provides compelling evidence that in the case of high LAI, increasing LAI could weaken the improvement effect on GPP. Findings of this study is expected to promote the understanding of long-term vegetation responses to hydrometeorological variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The extent of flooding in China is greater than in any other country. • Nearly 66% of China's landmass is submerged by flooding. • Financial toll of flooding accounts for approximately 1.42% of the annual GDP. • Various forms of climatic change contribute to flooding. The extent of flooding in China is more significant than in any other country. Our research reveals that approximately 66 % of China's landmass is submerged by flooding, affecting about 50 % of the population. Furthermore, the financial toll of flooding now accounts for approximately 1.42 % of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), which is almost 40 times higher than the corresponding figure for the United States. We have observed that Zhengzhou city in Henan province, which faced a devastating flood in 2021, received a significant amount of rainfall, specifically a total of 552.5 mm within a 24-hour period. The floods in Henan province in 2021 caused considerable damage, including impacting nearly 15 million people, resulting in almost 400 deaths, damaging over 10,000 square kilometers of agricultural land, causing almost $19 billion in economic losses, and leading to the collapse of over 35,000 households and damage to various properties. In a similar manner, the significant flooding that occurred in southern China in 2020 impacted approximately 7.1 million individuals across eight provinces and resulted in 54 fatalities, the collapse of 6,700 houses, and incurred a direct economic loss of US$3.33 billion. We found that rainstorms have significantly increased to 10 % in the last 60 years in China. In this paper, we delved into exploring the existing published articles, reports, and government and authoritative legal texts to analyze the causes and impacts of flooding in China's flood-prone regions and potential mitigation strategies to reduce the repercussions of distressing flood events. We believe this study will help policymakers by providing new insights while formulating policy to reduce the loss caused by high-level flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent of flooding in China is more significant than in any other country. Our research reveals that approximately 66 % of China’s landmass is submerged by flooding, affecting about 50 % of the population. Furthermore, the financial toll of flooding now accounts for approximately 1.42 % of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), which is almost 40 times higher than the corresponding figure for the United States. We have observed that Zhengzhou city in Henan province, which faced a devastating flood in 2021, received a significant amount of rainfall, specifically a total of 552.5 mm within a 24-hour period. The floods in Henan province in 2021 caused considerable damage, including impacting nearly 15 million people, resulting in almost 400 deaths, damaging over 10,000 square kilometers of agricultural land, causing almost $19 billion in economic losses, and leading to the collapse of over 35,000 households and damage to various properties. In a similar manner, the significant flooding that occurred in southern China in 2020 impacted approximately 7.1 million individuals across eight provinces and resulted in 54 fatalities, the collapse of 6,700 houses, and incurred a direct economic loss of US$3.33 billion. We found that rainstorms have significantly increased to 10 % in the last 60 years in China. In this paper, we delved into exploring the existing published articles, reports, and government and authoritative legal texts to analyze the causes and impacts of flooding in China’s flood-prone regions and potential mitigation strategies to reduce the repercussions of distressing flood events. We believe this study will help policymakers by providing new insights while formulating policy to reduce the loss caused by high-level flooding.

• An ecosystem process model-based NEP was predicted under varying climate scenarios. • Alpine grasslands were projected to play an important part in carbon sink contributions in Qinghai Province in the 21st century. • An earlier peak and faster decreasing NEP projected for a warmer climate scenario (RCP 8.5). • A more stable carbon sink was projected under a less warm, stable precipitation scenario (RCP 4.5). The alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau play an important role in multiple ecosystem functions, all of which are key in regulating regional climate influences and providing pristine headwaters for millions of people downstream from this basin. Alpine grasslands act as a carbon sink, storing carbon dioxide and keeping heat-trapping greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, but it is not clear how this will change in a warming climate in the future. In this paper, the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of alpine grasslands in Qinghai province, on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, was predicted for the period from 2010 to 2099. Trends and stability were analyzed under two climate scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5) and 8.5 (RCP8.5) representing the lower and higher emission scenarios for greenhouse gases. The results suggest that grasslands will continue to contribute as a carbon sink, with a positive NEP through this century. Almost the same magnitude (38 Tg C a-1, 1 T g = 1012 g) of contribution was projected under both scenarios. Grasslands are projected to be the major contributor to NEP in Qinghai province, with more than 89% of NEP in the future. The carbon sink function will increase over more than 69% of the grasslands and peak around 2069 (RCP4.5) or 2066 (RCP8.5). Then the carbon sink function will begin to decrease and it will decrease more quickly and become more variable under the RCP8.5 than the RCP4.5. The impacts of temperature and precipitation changes were analyzed and NEP was found to be more sensitive to temperature than precipitation change. The trend of increasing contribution to NEP is driven by a warming climate, while the stability of NEP is mainly influenced by the precipitation, which results in an upward trend before the peak and a decline due to stresses from limits in available water in a continued warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increased attention on the global warming phenomenon, greenhouse gas management has become an important issue, especially in textile industry. Therefore, an effective greenhouse gas performance appraisal system is necessary for textile enterprises to assess their sustainability and recognize their weakness in the greenhouse gas management. However, few studies have identified the comprehensive connotation of the enterprise’s greenhouse gas management. And there is no relevant research targeting at analyzing the textile enterprises’ greenhouse gas management performance. This paper aims at providing a better understanding of the greenhouse gas management and establishing an evaluation system for textile enterprises. The system divided the evaluation into four categories, including Greenhouse gas management commitment and policy, Greenhouse gas management target and program, Implementation and operation, and Corrective action and public reporting. Literature review, expert interview and on-site investigation were used to supplement the indicators and the weights were determined by Monte Carlo-Analytic Hierarchy Process method. Case studies were conducted on eight typical Chinese textile manufacturers to verify the effectiveness of the evaluation system. The result shows that the new evaluation system can reflect the actual greenhouse gas emission performance of textile enterprises. And the system not only allows textile enterprises to recognize their weakness in the greenhouse gas management and better improve their management level, but also provides reference and experience for other industries to draw upon in establishing the greenhouse gas evaluation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Steady-state variation in peak biomass of Aurelia coerulea in the Bohai and Yellow Seas has been comprehensively investigated by the regional moderate-temperature-duration approach. • Under the RCP4.5 climate scenario, the steady state of the highest peak biomass will be achieved during 2075∼2080. • The benthic polyp strobilation stage is the key life stage determines the variability of Aurelia coerulea peak biomass. As temperature is regarded as a significant environmental factor affecting the intensity and frequency of jellyfish blooms, the projection of jellyfish peak biomass variation under global warming becomes essential for disaster prevention and mitigation on long-term time scales. The jellyfish Aurelia coerulea is distributed in worldwide oceans, particularly in the Bohai and Yellow Seas (BYSs), which are productive regions with substantial economic and climatic significance and have been suffered from A. coerulea blooms. Based on the theory of how A. coerulea reacts to various experimental temperature circumstances, recent studies have been proposed to determine the qualitative trends of A. coerulea blooms in response to climate change. However, the quantitative study of future A. coerulea biomass variability is a challenging task due to the uncertainty in the numerical relation between temperature and the biomasses of A. coerulea and the difficulty in determining the biomass considering the high mobility of jellyfishes. In this paper, we develop a moderate-temperature-duration approach to solve these two problems. The temperature suitability for all key life stages of A. coerulea during pelagic and benthic processes is involved in this approach, and we identify the major life stage that determines the peak biomass variation. The projection of future peak biomass of A. coerulea in BYSs is performed based on this approach and utilizing the long-term projection results of temperature changes by 2100 using the MPI-ESM-MR model from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) under the RCP4.5 scenario. The results indicate that global warming can certainly lead to the increase in A. coerulea biomass in some degree. The steady state of the highest peak biomass will be achieved during 2075 ∼ 2080, with an increase of 8.4%, 5.0%, and 11.5% in the Bohai Sea, the North Yellow Sea, and the South Yellow Sea, respectively, compared to the first steady state starting in 2020 detected by the regime shift. However, the result also shows that global warming cannot consistently lead to the increase of A. coerulea peak biomass. As the temperature rises to a large extent, the duration of moderate temperature ranges for strobilation and growth may be reduced, and thus resulting in the decrease of peak biomass instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • H. rivularis spread very widely in Europe during recent decades. • H. rivularis is no longer a simple indicator for oligotrophic ecosystems. • H. rivularis occurs mainly in habitats with eu- and hypertrophic waters. • H. rivularis is a poor indicator of the good ecological status of waters. • Classification of H. rivularis as an endangered species in Poland is unfounded. Our knowledge about the size of benthic red alga populations inhabiting European freshwater ecosystems is still insufficient. For many years, in Europe, Hildenbrandia rivularis (Rhodophyta, Hildenbrandiaceae) was believed to be a very rare species of crustaceous red algae, valuable for oligotrophic system biomonitoring. In this paper, we challenge this assumption and show the phenomenon of H. rivularis expansion (i.e., from mountains and highlands to lowlands) in Europe based on detailed data from Poland. We collected over 311 records of H. rivularis occurring in rivers, streams and lakes (not typical habitats for this alga) across the country, including historical data. Here, we show the detailed distribution of this endangered species in Poland, one of the largest European countries. To examine the mechanism of H. rivularis population expansion, physicochemical data from 122 aquatic ecosystems were investigated. A comparison between three subperiods (1860–1944, 1945–1999, and 2000–2019) revealed an increase in the average abundance of the H. rivularis population in the lowlands area. However, the studied species seems to be disappearing in mountain and upland ecosystems. We found altitude and water flow and quality (i.e., alkalinity, oxygenation and biogens) to be the main determinants of H. rivularis occurrence within the study area. The results indicate that this red alga can be described as an expansive species, and its occurrence does not always indicate good water quality and fast water flow. Surprisingly, in contrast to observations from the last century, the population of H. rivularis in Poland currently occurs mainly in habitats with eu- and hypertrophic waters. We point out here that in the zone with temperate climate influence, H. rivularis is no longer an obvious indicator for oligotrophic ecosystems. We suggest that climate warming and eutrophication–reoligotrophication may have contributed to the increased spread of H. rivularis in Europe over recent decades. In addition, we see no reason to classify H. rivularis as an endangered species in Poland. This species most often inhabits anthropogenic water systems and occurs at high abundance in waters with high concentrations of biogens. For these reasons, H. rivularis is more ubiquitous than a cosmopolitan species (i.e., with a wide range of occurrence but associated with only a specific type of habitat and specific environmental parameters). Thus, the value of H. rivularis as a bioindicator for oligotrophic water ecosystems is very low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As temperature is regarded as a significant environmental factor affecting the intensity and frequency of jellyfish blooms, the projection of jellyfish peak biomass variation under global warming becomes essential for disaster prevention and mitigation on long-term time scales. The jellyfish Aurelia coerulea is distributed in worldwide oceans, particularly in the Bohai and Yellow Seas (BYSs), which are productive regions with substantial economic and climatic significance and have been suffered from A. coerulea blooms. Based on the theory of how A. coerulea reacts to various experimental temperature circumstances, recent studies have been proposed to determine the qualitative trends of A. coerulea blooms in response to climate change. However, the quantitative study of future A. coerulea biomass variability is a challenging task due to the uncertainty in the numerical relation between temperature and the biomasses of A. coerulea and the difficulty in determining the biomass considering the high mobility of jellyfishes. In this paper, we develop a moderate-temperature-duration approach to solve these two problems. The temperature suitability for all key life stages of A. coerulea during pelagic and benthic processes is involved in this approach, and we identify the major life stage that determines the peak biomass variation. The projection of future peak biomass of A. coerulea in BYSs is performed based on this approach and utilizing the long-term projection results of temperature changes by 2100 using the MPI-ESM-MR model from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) under the RCP4.5 scenario. The results indicate that global warming can certainly lead to the increase in A. coerulea biomass in some degree. The steady state of the highest peak biomass will be achieved during 2075∼2080, with an increase of 8.4%, 5.0%, and 11.5% in the Bohai Sea, the North Yellow Sea, and the South Yellow Sea, respectively, compared to the first steady state starting in 2020 detected by the regime shift. However, the result also shows that global warming cannot consistently lead to the increase of A. coerulea peak biomass. As the temperature rises to a large extent, the duration of moderate temperature ranges for strobilation and growth may be reduced, and thus resulting in the decrease of peak biomass instead.

This paper uses panel cointegration techniques and Granger causality tests to investigate the dynamic causal links between per capita renewable energy consumption, agricultural value added (AVA), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and real gross domestic product (GDP) for a panel of five North Africa countries spanning the period 1980–2011. In the short-run, Granger causality tests show the existence of bidirectional causality between CO 2 emissions and agriculture; a unidirectional causality running from agriculture to GDP, from GDP to renewable energy consumption, and from renewable energy consumption to agriculture. In the long-run, there is bidirectional causality between agriculture and CO 2 emissions; a unidirectional causality running from renewable energy to agriculture and to emissions, and from output to agriculture and to emissions. Long-run parameter estimates show that an increase in GDP or in renewable energy consumption (including combustible and waste) increases CO 2 emissions, whereas an increase in agricultural value added reduces CO 2 emissions. As policy recommendation, North African authorities should encourage renewable energy consumption, and especially clean renewable energy such as solar or wind, as this improves agricultural production and help to combat global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil organic carbon (SOC) consists of various C fractions with different stabilities and chemical compositions that are differently affected by changes in land use. A better understanding of the responses of different C fractions to land uses is vital for maintaining soil quality and mitigating global warming. Using data from a short-term land use experiment in northeastern China, this paper investigated the effect of five land uses, corn cropland (Corn), alfalfa grassland (Alfalfa), artificial grassland of Lyemus chinensis (AG), Lyemus chinensis grassland for mowing (AG + Mow) and restored grassland (RG), on the dynamics of total SOC and four SOC fractions with increasing degrees of oxidizability at 0 to 50 cm depths. The results show that land use had a significant effect ( P < 0.05) on the total SOC and SOC fractions of very labile C (F1), labile C (F2) and less labile C (F3), while the difference in recalcitrant C (F4) was less pronounced. SOC in the study area was characterized by a predominantly very labile C fraction, and the percentages of F1 to total SOC were more than 40% for all land uses. Compared with Corn, the treatments AG + Mow, AG and RG decreased the percentage of F1 to SOC (by 4.49%, 6.53% and 3.55%, respectively) and increased the percentages of F2 (by 3.32%, 2.77% and 6.60%, respectively) and F3 (by 4.47%, 3.46% and 0.3%, respectively) to SOC. These findings suggest that land-use type is a major factor that influences soil C fractions and that labile C fractions contribute a large part of the total SOC. In addition, grassland colonization of croplands improves soil C sequestration in northeastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for the extensive use of sustainability assessment as a standalone tool to evaluate the environmental, economic and social aspects of an activity be it at project, product, company or region level has resulted in the development of various methods and standards. There are several indicator issues to address each aspect of sustainability and it is not easy for decision makers to understand the result due to the use of multiple indicators. In this regard, the paper aims at the identification and combination of indicators allowing to assess the sustainability which is applicable to a carbon fiber recycling sector. Indicators selection were carried out by performing an extensive literature review on existing publications dealing with the different pillars of sustainability and setting a number of selection criteria to prioritize indicators that are relevant to the sector. For the environmental aspect global warming, acidification and human toxicity seem to be the most relevant. The social-economic aspect can be addressed through considering the resource impact assessment by considering the supply risk due to the geological scarcity of a resource and the potential supply disruption due to geopolitical and other social factors. The finding shows that three indicators have been identified enabling the assessment of the environmental pillar. Then the necessity to use extra resources indicators was shown and justified by the need of providing a shorter timeframe perspective as well as to consider the amount of fiber to be recycled in the future and also to determine the potential benefit provided by the creation of this sector to the resource strategy point of view. This will be made possible by using such method as the criticality assessment that enable the consideration of geological and geopolitical supply risk as well as the characterization of the system dependence to a specific resource. Finally, these results lead to the expression of the need to the development of a novel indicator assessing the criticality of carbon fibers as well as the expression of the necessity for further research on the socio-economic perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Global Warming Potential (GWP) was first presented in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) First Assessment Report, the metric has been scrutinized and alternative metrics have been suggested. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report gives a scientific assessment of the main recent findings from climate metrics research and provides the most up-to-date values for a subset of metrics and time horizons. The objectives of this paper are to perform a systematic review of available midpoint metrics (i.e. using an indicator situated in the middle of the cause-effect chain from emissions to climate change) for well-mixed greenhouse gases and near-term climate forcers based on the current literature, to provide recommendations for the development and use of characterization factors for climate change in life cycle assessment (LCA), and to identify research needs. This work is part of the ‘Global Guidance on Environmental Life Cycle Impact Assessment’ project held by the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative and is intended to support a consensus finding workshop. In an LCA context, it can make sense to use several complementary metrics that serve different purposes, and from there get an understanding about the robustness of the LCA study to different perspectives and metrics. We propose a step-by-step approach to test the sensitivity of LCA results to different modelling choices and provide recommendations for specific issues such as the consideration of climate-carbon feedbacks and the inclusion of pollutants with cooling effects (negative metric values). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in global warming, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions has gained attention in various regions. In Malaysia, the government announced a voluntary commitment to reduce 40% of CO 2 emissions by 2020 and to refurbish 100 government buildings. Existing buildings make a large contribution to energy consumption and CO 2 emissions, therefore refurbishing existing buildings is an essential strategy to achieve the commitment. There is no single assessment scheme for building refurbishment in Malaysia and hence, this study aims to develop a comprehensive list of assessment themes and sub-themes for building refurbishment purposes. It examines and compares 10 assessment schemes from various countries: BREEAM, LEED, CASBEE, BEAM Plus, GBLS, Green Star, HQE, Green Mark, GBI and MyCrest. The findings revealed fourteen themes that were considered for assessment: management , sustainable site , transport , indoor environmental quality ( IEQ ), water , waste , material , energy , pollution , innovation , economic , social , culture and quality of services . Energy and IEQ are dominant themes in all assessment schemes. Most of the schemes are considered relatively weak in evaluating economic and social aspects, in comparison to environmental aspects. The assessment of quality of services is overlooked in most of the schemes, including GBI and MyCrest in Malaysia. Outcomes from this paper will form the baseline for a new environmental assessment scheme that aimed at non-domestic building refurbishments in Malaysia. A new model is proposed for the development of an environmental assessment scheme in the further stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC), the McGill Paleoclimate Model-2 (MPM-2), this paper examines the climatic biogeophysical effects of afforestation in the southern hemisphere (SH) with a focus on land–atmosphere interactions and the modeling influence of the dynamic ocean in the background of the earth system. Increased forest cover affects the albedo feedback and the supply of water, which in turn influences temperature. These changes largely control the net impact of the SH afforestation based on latitudinal band. In response to afforestation in 0–15°S and 0–40°S, the local surface air temperature significantly increases at a maximum value around 5°S during autumn. This warming is attributed to decreased land surface albedo dominating over enhanced precipitation which is resulted from increased tree cover. Forest expansions in 15–30°S and 30–40°S induce diminished land surface albedo and precipitation locally, leading to a warming around 25°S during spring and a warming around 35°S in winter, respectively. The maximum differences in the modeled responses of afforestation on latitude band basis are seen to be 7–10 times larger for the same season. Our results show that capturing how and where biogeophysical changes due to forest expansion warm a specific region requires an accurate global simulation of afforestation geographically. This provides potential for further improving detection and attribution of regional afforestation effects. Furthermore, a dynamic ocean simulation results in a warming compared with a fixed one over most forcing originating areas in response to afforestation. We demonstrate that unless the dynamic ocean is considered we risk influenced conclusions regarding the drivers of temperature changes over regions of afforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since carbon emissions are considered to contribute the lion's share in global warming, extensive studies have been devoted to measuring the carbon emissions abatement cost in various ways. This paper derives the shadow prices of China's aggregate carbon emissions at provincial levels by using directional output distance function and Shephard output distance function. The empirical results indicate that the shadow prices estimated by the directional distance function with directional vector of (1,−1) are significantly higher than those estimated by Shephard distance function, which implies that the green production technology is very expensive for the developing country of China. In addition, the shadow prices of carbon emissions present a rising trend during the sample period, which implies that it is increasingly costly for China to regulate CO 2 emissions. Moreover, the shadow price is positively correlated with regional economic development levels. Generally, the shadow price of the high income regions is significantly bigger than that of low income regions. Therefore, China should promote regional scheme of carbon emissions reduction, such as regional carbon emissions trading scheme, to fulfill its ambitious target of carbon emissions reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the air pollution index in Turkey for the period 1990-2011 by using the four different environmental pressure categories, namely global warming potential, acidification potential, tropospheric ozone forming potential and particulate formation potential. These categories have weighted on a comparison basis, applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process methodology. Twenty-five academicians with environmental engineering backgrounds were asked to fill in the comparison matrices in order to reduce bias in the evaluation. According to the results obtained for the air pollution index in Turkey are better for the time period 2001-2011 than the time period 1990-2000. The study provides deeper insights into the causes of air pollution, and gives further implications on air pollution protection strategies in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The net primary productivity (NPP) significantly increased in marshes of study area. • Summer daytime and nighttime temperatures had an asymmetric effect on marsh NPP. • Increased precipitation in summer and autumn can enhance the NPP of marsh vegetation. The western Songnen Plain has a large area of marshes that are able to modulate the regional carbon cycle. Net primary productivity (NPP) is an important ecological indicator of carbon storage within the marsh ecosystems. Although climate change could have significantly changed marsh vegetation NPP during the past decades, the spatiotemporal variation in marsh vegetation NPP and how climate change affects marsh vegetation NPP remain unclear in the western Songnen Plain. In this paper, we assessed the spatiotemporal variation in the NPP of marshes at the western Songnen Plain and evaluated its response to climate change from 2000 to 2020. The NPP of marshes over the western Songnen Plain increased significantly at a rate of 5.69 g C/m2/a during 2000 to 2020, with an average value of about 273.62 g C/m2/a. The largest increase of the NPP of marshes was mainly distributed in the northwest part of the Songnen Plain. Correlation analysis results showed that the increased precipitation in summer and autumn could enhance the NPP of marsh vegetation. By contrast, the increase of mean temperature in summer reduced the NPP of marshes. In addition, we first found the asymmetric impacts of summer minimum temperature (T min) and maximum temperature (T max) on marsh vegetation NPP. Notably, the increase in summer T max could significantly reduce NPP, while the increase in T min could increase NPP. Under the background of global asymmetric warming of daytime and nighttime temperatures, more attention should be paid to the different effects of T max and T min on marsh NPP in the western Sonegnen Plain. The findings of this study can provide theoretical guidance for ecological protection and the adaptive management of marsh vegetation at the western Songnen Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports the development of a unique model to quantify the environmental impact made by various textile fibres and also to position them in terms of ecological sustainability. A wide range of textile fibres and the major contributing factors in terms of environmental impact during manufacturing phase (starting from growth/extraction stage to production of a useful fibre which can be spun) have been selected. Amount of oxygen produced/carbon-di-oxide absorbed consequently contributing to off-set global warming during the production phase of a fibre, utilisation of renewable resources, land use, usage of fertilisers and pesticides, fibre recyclability and biodegradability of chosen fibres have been considered. Amount of energy consumed, quantity of water utilised and amount of green house gases emitted have been considered for life cycle inventory (LCI) and a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) study has been accomplished to derive certain impact categories pertaining to the damage created to human health, ecosystem quality and resources, which will elucidate the characteristics of ecological sustainability. A scoring system based on the above mentioned factors which predominantly determine ecological sustainability has been framed, from which an Environmental Impact index (EI) has been developed. Further, an Ecological Sustainability Index (ESI) has been derived from EI values for the chosen fibres. According to this system, organic cotton is the most and acrylic is the least preferred fibre. A sensitivity study has been done to check the robustness of the developed model and the results of the same have been reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A two-step econometric model and a nonlinear mediating effect model are employed. • There is an inverted U-shaped association between environmental regulation and green technology. • A U-shaped association between environmental regulation and carbon intensity is investigated. • Green technology is a mediator of the impact of environmental regulation on carbon intensity. • There are prominent differences in mediating effect between developed and developing regions. Environmental regulation and green technology are important to mitigate global warming, whereas few studies explored the role of green technology in environmental regulation on carbon intensity. This paper systematically reviews the literature on the relationship among environmental regulation, green technology, and carbon intensity, and assumes that green technology is a potential mediator of the impact of environmental regulation on carbon intensity. The advanced SBM model and the factor analysis method were performed to measure the relationships. To explore the mediating effect of green technology, the two-step econometric model and the nonlinear mediating effect model were applied to a panel dataset of 30 provinces in China spanning the period 2005–2016. The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green technology, and a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and carbon intensity. Green technology has a significant negative impact on carbon intensity. This proves that green technology is an important mediating variable on the relationship between environmental regulation and carbon intensity. Moreover, the current environmental regulation intensity lies before the inflection point of both the inverted U-shaped and the U-shaped curves. The effects of environmental regulation on green technology and carbon intensity in developed and developing regions follow an inverted U-shaped, and a U-shaped curve, respectively. Furthermore, the mediating effect in developing regions is significantly larger than that in developed regions. Finally, policy implications are given to reduce carbon intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]