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Distributed photovoltaic (DPV) is a promising solution to climate change. However, the widespread adoption of DPV faces challenges, such as high upfront costs, regulatory barriers, and market uncertainty. Addressing these barriers requires coordinating the interests of stakeholders in the promotion of DPV. Therefore, this paper constructs a three-party evolutionary game model in a social network with the government, investment companies and residents as the main subjects and examines the influence of different subjects' behavioral strategies on the promotion of DPV under the social learning mechanism. The results show that: (1) In the game equilibrium, both the government and residents hold a positive attitude towards the promotion of DPV; (2) Companies will obtain most of the subsidies through market power and information differences, resulting in the increase of government subsidies that do not always benefit residents; (3) The increase of energy consumption and pollution prevention costs can promote companies' investment in DPV; (4) The increase of environmental protection taxes to a certain extent helps companies to take responsibility for promoting DPV, reducing the pressure on the government to promote it and increasing residents' income. This study provides insights into the sustainable development of DPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compilation of technology lists of addressing climate change has guiding effect on promoting technological research and development, demonstration and popularization. It is also crucial for China to strengthen ecological civilization construction, achieve the carbon emission peak and carbon neutral target, and enhance global climate governance capabilities. This study first proposes the existing classification outline of the technology promotion lists, technology demand lists and future technology lists. Then, different methodologies are integrated on the basis of the existing outline of four technology lists: China's existing technological promotion list for addressing climate change, China's demand list for climate change mitigation technology, China's key technology list for addressing climate change, and China's future technology list for addressing climate change. What's more, core technologies are analyzed in the aspects of technology maturity, carbon reduction cost, carbon reduction potential, economic benefits, social influence, uncertainty, etc. The results show that: key industries and sectors in China already have relatively mature mitigation/adaptation technologies to support the achievement of climate change targets. The multi-sectoral system of promoting climate-friendly technologies has been established, which has played an active role in tackling climate change. Currently, climate technology needs are concentrated in the traditional technology and equipment upgrading, renewable energy technology and management decision-making support technology. The key technologies are concentrated in 3 major areas and 12 technological directions that urgently need a breakthrough. For carbon emmission peak and carbon nentrality, carbon depth reduction/zero carbon emissions and geoengineering technology ( CDR and SRM) have played an important role in forming the structure of global emissions and achieving carbon neutrality in the future. Thus, the uncertainty assessment for the comprehensive technology cost-effectiveness, technology integration direction, technical maturity, ethics and ecological impacts is supportive to the national technology strategy. Finally, the presented study proposes several policy suggestions for medium-and long-term technology deployment, improving technology conversion rate, promoting the research and development of key core technologies, and forming a technology list collaborative update and release mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation at farm level is an effective measure to cope with global climate change. The study aims to clarify farmers' intentions and decisions regarding global climate change adaptation. Logistic regression models were used to examine the influences of socioeconomic factors and climate adaptation communication processes on farmers' decision to apply adaptation strategies against drought and flood. Specifically, for a thorough understanding of non-adapting farmers, the theory of planned behavior was incorporated, to assess these farmers' intention to adaptation. Results showed that farmers' perceptions were consistent with the weather data over a short period, reporting a rise in temperature and a greater decrease in precipitation. Agricultural experience, farm income, training, social capital, and effective climate adaptation communication were statistically significant in increasing the probability of farmers' adaptation. For farmers who do not perceive climate change but adapted nonetheless, social capital played a major factor, driving their belief in, and behavior to adaptation, of which the most important aspects were neighbors and peer groups. Farmers' intention to adapt was mostly affected by perceived behavioral control factors, followed by attitude and subjective norms. Therefore, successful policies to enhance farmers' perceptions and adaptive capacity can encourage both actual and intended adaptation farmers. Adaptation strategies require the participation of multiple players from all related sectors engaging with local communities and farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation of the energy sector’s power generation mix is needed to contain global mean temperature rise to no more than 2 °C above the pre-industrial level. Because the power sector is also a dominant direct and indirect consumer of water, it is vital to understand current and likely future trends in power sector water consumption. In this paper, we use an input-output based hybrid approach to study the direct and indirect impacts on water consumption from power mix adjustment in the world’s seven largest emitting economies under multiple cost-effective mitigation pathways toward the 2 °C target. Although different pathways exist, we discovered generally increases in water consumption of power sector under the long-term 2 °C target compared with no-climate-policy pathways, especially for China and India. Fulfilling the Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) could decouple direct water consumption and electricity output for most regions but may result in increases of indirect water consumption in China. This paper suggests that in the light of geographically uneven water scarcity, more comprehensive evaluation of both the direct and indirect water demands of the power sector is demanded when considering climate policies relevant to significant structural and technological adjustments in power sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to increase occupational heat stress, which will lead to diminished work performance and labor losses worldwide. However, sub-regional analyses remain insufficient, especially for countries with a heterogeneous spatial distribution of working populations, industries and climates. Here, we projected heat-induced labor losses in China, by considering local climate simulations, working population characteristics and developing an exposure–response function suitable for Chinese workers. We showed that the annual heat-induced work hours lost (WHL), compared to the baseline of 21.3 billion hours, will increase by 121.1% (111.2%–131.1%), 10.8% (8.3%–15.3%), and −17.8% (−15.3%–−20.3%) by the end of the century under RCP(Representative Concentration Pathways)8.5, RCP4.5, and RCP2.6, respectively. We observed an approximately linear upward trend of WHL under RCP8.5, despite the decrease in future working population. Notably, WHL will be most prominent in the southern, eastern and central regions, with Guangdong and Henan accounting for a quarter of national total losses; this is largely due to their higher temperature exposure, larger population size, and higher shares of vulnerable population in total employment. In addition, limiting global warming to 1.5 °C would yield substantial gains. Compared to RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5, all provinces can avoid an average of 11.8%, 33.7%, and 53.9% of annual WHL if the 1.5 °C target is achieved, which is equivalent to avoiding 0.1%, 0.6%, and 1.4% of annual GDP losses in China, respectively. This study revealed climate change will exacerbate future labor losses, and adverse impacts can be minimized by adopting stringent mitigation policies coupled with effective adaptation measures. Policymakers in each province should tailor occupation health protection measures to their circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although China has experienced a wide variety of regional conflicts between water scarcity and electricity generation, there are few comprehensive quantifications that explicitly reveal the location and severity of these conflicts. Triggered by the soaring need for such information, we performed a high-resolution evaluation and projection of the spatial vulnerability of thermoelectric power generation to water scarcity problems. The study provides a comprehensive assessment by incorporating thermoelectric plants’ reliance on water, local water supply stress and future impacts brought about by planning and climate change into the analysis simultaneously. To measure the vulnerability of thermoelectric plants to water scarcity, a vulnerability index was constructed and multi-disciplinary approaches were integrated to quantify this index. Seven hotpots in North China were highlighted as power-vulnerable to water scarcity currently. In order to fulfill the power generation target in the future, less-vulnerable watersheds identified by this study are suggested to become the sites of future power plants. Besides, lowering the water withdrawal intensity of power plants alone is not enough to solve the vulnerability concerns. Instead, it is necessary to implement other water management, including water rights allocation in the trans-boundary river basins. This paper also highlights regions where climate change will threaten power generation by decreasing the water availability. These insights are valuable for adding the alleviation of water and electricity conflicts to climate change adaptation agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] This study assesses the value of a timely outcome of the long-term climate policy agenda. [•] A multi-period multi-region optimization model for China’s power sector is developed. [•] Clear policy signals of long-term climate agenda mitigate the impacts of a carbon lock-in and reduce mitigation costs. [•] Air pollution control targets help reduce the extra cost of a delayed mitigation agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows industrialized countries to comply with the Kyoto Protocol by using carbon offsets from developing countries. There are two puzzles within this carbon market: additionality (the proposed activity would not have occurred in its absence) and co-benefits (the project has other environmental benefits besides climate mitigation). This paper proposes an econometric approach to evaluate the CDM effect on sulfur dioxide emission reductions and assess its additionality indirectly. Our empirical model is applied to China''s emissions at the prefecture level. We found that the CDM does not have a statistically significant effect in lowering sulfur dioxide emissions. This result casts doubt on additionality of these CDM activities, that is, they would have happened anyway. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The research and development (R&D) of climate change technology lists (or climate technology lists) is a foundation of the national climate governance system. By identifying and analyzing the technology demands, stocks and strategic direction of climate technology, technology lists can provide information guidance for technological research, development, promotion, transfer and investment. Based on status of technology ownership in this field and research objectives of list development, this study proposed three categories of technology lists: technology demand lists, existing technology lists and future technology lists. An analysis framework was established to compare different methodologies of developing technology lists, based on their information sources, classifications, identifying and sorting methods and ways of presenting. By applying the proposed framework, 10 representative methodologies for technology lists were systematically compared. The homogeneity and heterogeneity of the three categories of technology lists were identified, and an optimization framework of the methodologies was proposed. The results showed that: (1) Various types of climate technology lists have been completed in China, laying good foundations for continued domestic R&D, promotion and international cooperation on climate change technologies. (2) In terms of resource investment, rigor of technology selection process, energy conservation and emission reduction potential, synergistic effect and other indicators, there are similarities in the methodologies for the development of the three climate technology lists. The differences are mainly reflected in the sources of technological information, the selection of technological evaluation indicators and ways of presenting. (3) China's climate technology list research is still relatively defective; systematic and consistent assessment paradigms and the development of technology lists in some key areas are still lacking; and dynamic updating of technology lists is insufficient. On the basis of these findings, this article suggests that China should optimize the technology list development system and enhance the R&D of future technology lists which address carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality targets, key technology lists and international cooperation technology lists based on the third-party technology demand assessment. In addition, promoting the marketization of technology list R&D and application should also be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Yield per hectare of sweet sorghum are influence by temperature and precipitation. • Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are suitable for planting sweet sorghum. • The 2020 and 2050 biofuel goal can be satisfied by certain scenarios in this paper. • Climate change and land-use change are critical to energy crop development plan. Abstract Biofuel from energy crops will play an important role in supplying carbon-neutral fuel for the transport sector. However, there are large uncertainties regarding energy crop development and the energy crop potential and distribution need to be evaluated more comprehensively and systematically. In this study, we propose an integrated approach using the AquaCrop model, a geographic information system approach, and a scenario analysis and we conduct a land availability assessment with multiple factors including climate change, land use, soil, topography, regional crop management, and technological improvement to shed light on the potential production, distribution, and temporal-spatial variation of land suitable for sweet sorghum production in China. We evaluate a full range of spatial scales from 1-km resolution to a national assessment in four representative concentration pathways from 2010 to 2100. The results show that most provinces can plant sweet sorghum. The most suitable provinces for sweet sorghum production are Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, and Sichuan. The biofuel potential of sweet sorghum in high-slope farmland (0.30–0.73 EJ) and marginal land (11.98–15.18 EJ) can satisfy the biofuel goal in 2020 (0.12 EJ) and 2050 (6.70–8.60 EJ). Climate change and land-use change are critical factors influencing for the current implementation and long-term planning of energy crops in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how groundwater storage (GWS) responds to climate change is essential for water resources management and future water availability in the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the dominant factor controlling long‐term GWS changes remains unclear and its responses to climate change are not well understood. Here we combined multi‐source datasets including in‐situ measurements, satellite observations, global models, and reanalysis products to reveal that GWS increased at 5.59 ± 1.44 Gt/yr during 2003–2016 while showing spatial heterogeneities with increasing trends in northern TP and glacial regions and declining trends in central and southern TP. The accelerated transformation from solid water (glaciers, snow, and permafrost; −17.72 ± 1.53 Gt/yr) into liquid water provide more recharge to groundwater, dominating the total GWS increase. This study contributes to a better understanding of the hydrological cycle under climate change and provides key information for projecting water availability under different future scenarios in the TP. Plain Language Summary: Long‐term groundwater storage (GWS; the amount of water stored in the pores, fissures, and caves of soil and rocks within the underground saturated zone) changes in response to climate change in the Tibetan Plateau (TP), and its dominant controlling factor has not been fully understood. There are very limited observation wells in the TP to monitor the groundwater level changes. This study used satellite observations, modeling, and reanalysis data to investigate GWS changes in the TP during 2003–2016. Results show that the GWS increased by 5.59 ± 1.44 Gt/yr during this period. The accelerated climate warming on the TP has led to significant solid water melt, including glacier melt, snow melt, and permafrost thaw. The solid water storage showed a decreasing trend (−17.72 ± 1.53 Gt/yr) and provided more water to infiltrate to recharge groundwater. The solid water melt has been identified to be the dominant source of GWS increase in the TP. The results of this study will help us to better understand the changes in the water cycle on the TP caused by climate change. Key Points: Multiple satellite observations, modeling, and reanalysis data were used to reveal groundwater storage changes in the Tibetan PlateauGroundwater storage increased (5.59 ± 1.44 Gt/yr) in the entire Tibetan Plateau from 2003 to 2016Declining solid water (−17.72 ± 1.53 Gt/yr) including glaciers, snow, and permafrost dominates increasing groundwater storage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three major points of population migration toward the WHL occurred at 5200, 3800, and 2800 cal BP, which correspond to the seesaw changes of precipitation in western and eastern China. [Display omitted] How various peoples crossed geographical barriers, were affected by climate change and human-made technologies comprise some of the most interesting quandaries in the history of cultures. This paper considers the Hu line, which is a major boundary between population centres and different environments in China. The boundary became evident approximately 11,400 years ago; however, evidence suggests that people crossed through at 5200, 3800, and 2800 cal a BP, facilitating the increases of the trans-Eurasian exchange. The timings of the crossings correspond to the weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon that triggers seesaw changes of precipitation in western and eastern China. This analysis demonstrates that climate change on a millennial-to-centennial scale can have a profound influence on population distribution with long-term consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, continuous observation data for atmospheric nitrous oxide (N 2 O) concentrations are still lacking, especially in east Antarctica. In this paper, nitrous oxide background concentrations were measured at Zhongshan Station (69°22′25″S, 76°22′14″E), east Antarctica during the period of 2008–2012, and their interannual and seasonal characteristics were analyzed and discussed. The mean N 2 O concentration was 321.9 nL/L with the range of 320.5–324.8 nL/L during the five years, and it has been increasing at a rate of 0.29% year − 1 . Atmospheric N 2 O concentrations showed a strong seasonal fluctuation during these five years. The concentrations appeared to follow a downtrend from spring to autumn, and then increased in winter. Generally the highest concentrations occurred in spring. This trend was very similar to that observed at other global observation sites. The overall N 2 O concentration at the selected global sites showed an increasing annual trend, and the mean N 2 O concentration in the Northern Hemisphere was slightly higher than that in the Southern Hemisphere. Our result could be representative of atmospheric N 2 O background levels at the global scale. This study provided valuable data for atmospheric N 2 O concentrations in east Antarctica, which is important to study on the relationships between N 2 O emissions and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future climate change is likely to alter cold spell-related disease burden. Few projection studies have considered the potential impact of the aging population with changing population size on cold spell-related disease burdens. We derived the association between cold spells and daily mortality for 272 main cities in mainland China. We combined these associations with modeled daily temperatures from three different climate models under two climate change scenarios and three population scenarios to project excess deaths related to cold spells. Furthermore, we used the factor separation method to calculate the independent contribution of future population size, age structure, and climate change on projected deaths attributable to cold spells. Compared to the baseline period, future excess deaths related to cold spells are expected to increase over most of the decades under RCP 2.6 (81.5% in 2050 s and 37% in 2090 s) and RCP 4.5 (55.5% in 2050 s and −19% in 2090 s). The factor analysis indicated that the rise of the aged population (≥65) substantially would amplify the excess deaths related to cold spells (increase by 101.1% in the 2050 s and 146.2% in the 2090 s). For the near future (2021–2040), population aging could fully offset the influence of decreased cold-spell days. In the middle of this century (2051–2070), the total excess deaths will exhibit significant variation across three scenarios. By the end of 21 century (2081–2100), the population shrinking would reduce the total excess deaths. Excess deaths related to cold spells may still increase in a warming climate and future demographic shifts would produce considerable influences in this increase for different periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic rice farming is a sustainable rice cultivation system that eliminates chemical inputs and has the potential to reduce environmental impacts. This study aims to: 1) evaluate and compare the carbon footprint intensity and the value of carbon sequestration ecosystem services (VCSES) between organic rice farming (OF) and conventional rice farming (CF) and 2) estimate the impact of climate change on soil organic carbon (SOC), rice yield, and VCSES of two farming types in Phichit province, Thailand. The results showed that the carbon footprint intensity in OF and CF were significantly different with −0.13 and 0.82 kg CO 2 eq kg−1 rice yield, respectively. The differences in SOC stocks (ΔSOCS) were more significant in OF with the increase of 1107.6 kg C ha−1 year−1 (4061.2 kg CO 2 eq ha−1 year−1), while the ΔSOCS value in CF was 625 kg C ha−1 year−1 (2291.7 kg CO 2 eq ha−1 year−1). The VCSES in OF (541,196 US$ ha−1 year−1) was nearly two times higher than in CF (305,388 US$ ha−1 year−1). Under future climate change, rice yields of both farming types are expected to increase under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP6.0, and it will decline under RCP8.5. The SOC and VCSES values are predicted to increase, except under RCP8.5. The dramatic declines can be found from the near future (2020–2039) to the very far future (2080–2099) period. Our finding indicates that even though climate change will have negative effects on SOC and VCSES, the OF will have less impact compared with CF. [Display omitted] • The carbon intensity in OF and CF were –0.13 and 0.82 kg CO 2 eq kg-1 rice yield, respectively. • Carbon footprint was mitigated through SOC stock. • The OF can return the value of carbon sequestration ecosystem services higher than CF. • Under future climate change, the OF will have less impact compared with CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using phytolith analysis from a well-dated and high-resolution sediment sequence in the apex of northern Yangtze Delta, we investigate environmental changes, the rise and decline of rice exploitation and possible impacts of environment on rice exploitation during the early mid-Holocene. The phytolith sequence documents a relatively warm and dry interval during ca.9000 to 8200 cal yr BP, followed by climatic amelioration before 7200 cal yr BP. Phytolith evidence indicates that rice exploitation at the apex of northern Yangtze Delta began at 8200 cal yr BP, flourished by 7700 cal yr BP and ceased after 7400 cal yr BP. The first emergence of marine diatom species approximately 7300 cal yr BP likely indicates an accelerated sea-level rise. The apparent correlation of the initiation of rice exploitation with climatic amelioration during the early mid-Holocene suggests that climatic changes may have played an important role in facilitating rice exploitation. Both the ideal climatic conditions and stable sea level enabled flourishing rice exploitation during 8200 to 7400 cal yr BP. Although the climate remained warm and wet after 7400 cal yr BP, local sea-level rise possibly led to the termination of earlier rice exploitation at this site of the northern Yangtze Delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-centennial–scale climate changes in the Asian monsoonal region significantly affect nearly half of the global population and they have also influenced the evolution of civilizations. However, the relationship between cyclic climate change and civilization remains unclear. Here we present a precisely-dated, high-resolution pollen record from the southern Tibetan Plateau (STP), which reveals ~500-yr and ~ 210-yr cyclic variations in vegetation and precipitation during the last ~3600 years. The results show that ~500-yr and ~ 210-yr rainfall cycles were triggered by changes in the intensity of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the Westerlies, respectively. In addition, these two periodicities were almost in-phase with centennial-scale periodic changes in the low-latitude El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), as well as with the high-latitude North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Furthermore, the flourishing/demise of the Tubo Dynasty in China corresponds closely with the superimposed wet/dry phases of the ~500-yr and ~ 210-yr cyclic climate changes, suggesting a direct relationship between regional cultural evolution and multi-centennial–scale climatic cyclicity. • ~ 500-yr and ~ 210-yr cyclic variations recorded in vegetation and precipitation from Angrenjin Co in the STP. • The two periodic rainfall oscillations were caused by the changes in ISM and Westerlies intensity, respectively. • The multi-centennial scales climate cycles superposed droughts likely play a key role in the demise of the Tubo Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is one of the main economic sectors, which is impacted by climate change on a global scale. Yet, whether and to what extent climate change influences tourism in island countries with tropical weather has not been fully understood. Here, we seek to fill this gap by evaluating the role of climate variables and climate-related extreme events on the number of international tourists in Indonesia empirically. A panel dataset of 5 provinces in Indonesia, which accounted for more than 80 percent of international tourists traveling to Indonesia between 2008 and 2018, was used to perform a feasible generalized least square (FGLS) regression. Consistent with previous findings, the empirical results show that both temperature and relative humidity particularly explain the variations in the number of international tourists in Indonesia. Every 1% increment of temperature and relative humidity is associated with a decrease in the number of international tourists in Indonesia by 1.37% and 0.59%, respectively. This study also suggests that the effect of climate change and climate-related extreme events is not homogeneous among tourists from different regions. These findings develop novel insights for climate change adaptation for policymakers and the tourism industry in Indonesia as well as in other warm destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale farming (participation in large-scale agricultural extension program) and individual farming (no participation) are two farming management practices of rice cultivation in Thailand, both of which cause significant water consumption and degradation and are vulnerable to climate change. However, given that climate change will influence both grain yield and water resource availability, it is not fully understood which type of farming management practice is more adaptive to climate change. This study aims to evaluate the adaptation capabilities of large-scale and individual farming by simulating rice yield changes under future climatic conditions and estimating the climate change impact on the water footprint (WF) of rice production. Rice management practices were obtained from large-scale and individual farming. Five General Circulation Models of RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios under four future time periods were used as future climate projections. Simulation results show a remarkable increase in rice yield of individual and large-scale farming under RCP4.5, ranging from 1.3 to 29.8% and 2.0 to 30.8%, respectively, whereas it fluctuates from 11.7 to −29.0% and 8.3 to −20.8% under RCP8.5 for individual and large-scale farming, respectively. The projected total WF of rice production under RCP4.5 will decline, ranging from −10.0 to −43.0% and −0.5 to −67.0% for individual and large-scale farming, respectively. Conversely, the RCP8.5 shows a fluctuation in projected total WF of −26.5 to 63.3% and −51.1 to 60.0% for individual and large-scale farming, respectively. The total WF, mainly grey WF, in large-scale farming is lower than in individual farming. The increase of rice yield under RCP4.5 is due to an increment of temperature and precipitation, resulting in a decrease of the total WF and vice versa for RCP8.5. The large-scale farms are highlighted as adopting appropriate management practices for rice production in which they can maintain rice yield and reduce grey WF. Unlabelled Image • Rice yield and water footprint (WF) under climate change are assessed. • Large-scale and individual farming are compared. • Large-scale farming is projected to gain higher yield than individual farming. • The total WF, mainly grey WF, in large-scale farming is lower than individual farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]