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Faced with the dual challenges of environmental pollution and climate change, it is of great significance to study the impact of relevant environmental regulations on the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction and their influence mechanisms. Based on a theoretical analysis using the panel data of 30 provinces in China, a spatial econometric model and an intermediary effect model are used to investigate the impact of environmental regulations on the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction and the transmission mechanisms potentially responsible for these effects. The empirical results show the following: (1) The three kinds of environmental regulation effectively facilitate the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, taking the following order when ranked according to the intensity of their effects: command-type environmental regulation (ER1) > market-based environmental regulation (ER2) > voluntary environmental regulation (ER3). (2) Environmental regulation effectively promotes the synergistic effect of pollution and carbon reduction through the three transmission mechanisms of stimulating technological innovation (TI), industrial structure upgrading (ISU), and restricting foreign direct investment (FDI), which take the following effectiveness order: TI > FDI > ISU. Based on the results of the study, policy suggestions to facilitate pollution reduction and carbon synergies are proposed to help China's green and low-carbon development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat islands (UHIs) endanger the health of urban residents. Different urban growth patterns (UGPs) have different effects on heat islands. However, the dynamic relationship between UGP landscape information and urban surface heat island intensity (SUHII) remains unclear. This study explored the dynamic relationship between SUHII and UGP landscape information through spatial regression and landscape pattern analysis using Landsat imagery and urban construction land data from five cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration from 2010 to 2018. The results show that SUHII increase areas overlap with expansion patches, and the edge expansion and outlying areas show a warming effect. The influence of the edge expansion landscape area and pattern on SUHII changes is greater than the other two growth patterns. The relationship between UGPs' landscape information and SUHII changes varies among cities. The larger the city size, the stronger the influence of landscape information. Among the landscape patterns, the influence of the landscape area and pattern on SUHII change is large and the influence of landscape fragmentation is smaller. Exploring the dynamic relationship between UGP landscape information and SUHII is conducive to optimizing the spatial layout and pattern selection of urban development and providing a scientific reference for sustainable and livable urban development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to study urban carbon metabolism and explore the low-carbon land use management framework from the perspective of "ecological-production-living" space, an important means for the government to strengthen spatial regulation. In the study, first of all, a carbon metabolism network model was established based on the evolution of the "ecological-production-living" space. Secondly, an ecological network analysis (ENA) method was used to identify the ecological relationships between land use types under the effect of carbon metabolism. In addition, ArcGIS software was used to visualize the spatial distribution of carbon flow and ecological relationships. Finally, a low-carbon oriented land use management framework was proposed based on the above research. Yulin, a typical coal resource-based city in China, was taken as a case study for verification. The results showed that Yulin had net carbon emissions from 2010 to 2020, indicating that the evolution of "ecological-production-living" space had a negative impact on the carbon metabolism. Industrial, mining and transportation land dominated carbon emissions, while forestland played an important role in carbon sequestration. Under the effect of carbon metabolism, a controlling and exploitative relationship was the main ecological relationship, and a mutualism relationship accounted for the smallest proportion, indicating that the urban ecological conflict was obvious in the evolution of the "ecological-production-living" space. Based on the above research, a land use management framework was proposed, which divided urban space into six types of control units. In conclusion, the results provided experience for other coal resource-based cities to promote low-carbon and sustainable land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the interaction of global change and human activities, the contradistinction between supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is becoming increasingly tense, which will have a profound impact on the ecological security of China and even Asia. Based on land cover data on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 1990, 2005, and 2015, this paper estimated the supply capacity of ecosystem services using the value equivalent method, calculated the demand for ecosystem services using population density and economic density, established an ecosystem risk index based on the idea of an ecosystem service matrix to reveal the spatio-temporal pattern of the supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and identified the potential ecological risk areas arising from the imbalance between supply and demand. The results showed that: (1) In terms of the spatio-temporal pattern of land use change, the desert area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau decreased the most with 26,238.9 km2, and other types of land use increased, of which construction land increased by 131.7%; (2) In terms of the supply and demand of ecosystem services, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was mainly dominated by low-level surplus areas, accounting for 64.0%, and the deficit in some areas has worsened significantly; and (3) In terms of division pattern of ecological risk areas, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau presented characteristics of high risk in the east and low risk in the west. The high-risk area accounted for 1.1%, mainly distributed in the Huangshui Valley and the "One River and Two Tributaries" (Yarlung Zangbo River, Lhasa River, Nianchu River). The research results can provide reference for ecosystem management and policy formulation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and have important significance for realizing the coupling and coordinated development of human–land relationship in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]