Local strategies for China's carbon mitigation: An investigation of Chinese city-level CO2 emissions

This paper provides a systematic analysis that identifies the driving forces of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 286 Chinese prefecture-level cities in 2012. The regression analysis confirms the economic scale and structure effects on cities' CO2 emissions in China. If China's annual economic growth continues at the rate of 7%, CO2 emissions will increase by about 6% annually. In addition, climate conditions, urbanization and public investment in R&D are identified as important driving forces to increase the CO2 emissions of Chinese cities. While an increment of the urbanization rate by 1% increases the CO2 emissions by about 0.9%; An increase in R&D investment by 1% can help reduce CO2 emissions by 0.21%. As cities in our study vary greatly based on their industry composition, development stage and geographical location, the patterns of their CO2 emissions are also variable. Our study improves the comprehensiveness and accuracy of previous carbon accounting method by distinguishing the scope 1 and scope 2 CO2 emissions and establishing a high spatial resolution dataset of CO2 emissions (CHRED). The analysis covers almost all Chinese prefectural cities and derives useful implications for China's low carbon development

Aggressive Angiomyxoma: an Unusual Presentation

Aggressive angiomyxoma is an uncommon mesenchymal myxoid tumor that is characterized by slow growth and frequent local recurrence. It is currently regarded as a nonmetastasizing tumor. We describe a case of recurrent aggressive angiomyxoma with invasion into the veins including the inferior vena cava and the right atrium and with pulmonary metastases. Our case, together with those unusual cases documented in previous reports, may lead to a reappraisal of the nature of aggressive angiomyxoma

Spatiotemporal Changes of China's Carbon Emissions

Spatiotemporal changes in China's carbon emissions during the 11th and 12th Five‐Year Plan periods are quantified for the first time through a reconstructed nationwide high‐resolution gridded data set. The hot spots of carbon emissions in China have expanded by 28.5% (toward the west) in the north and shrunk by 18.7% in the south; meanwhile, the emission densities in North and South China have increased by 15.7% and 49.9%, respectively. This suggests a clear transition to a more intensive economic growth model in South China as a result of the energy conservation and emission reduction policies, while the expanded carbon hot spots in North China are mainly dominated by the Grand Western Development Program. The results also show that China's carbon emissions exhibit a typical spatially intensive, high‐emission pattern, which has undergone a slight relaxation (up to 3%) from 2007 to 2012 due to a typical urbanization process

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The Impact of Land-Use Structure on Carbon Emission in China

Research objectives: This paper discusses how to support the realization of carbon peak and carbon neutrality through the optimization of national spatial structures by establishing a relationship model between land-use structure and carbon emissions, and then provide theoretical and methodological support for the formulation of relevant policies and plans, as well as the evaluation of implementation effects. Research methods: grid analysis, GIS spatial analysis, double log linear regression model. Results: There is a strong correlation between the spatial structure of land and carbon emissions; the scale of construction land, especially industrial land, directly affects carbon emissions; if the area of construction land is doubled, CO2 emissions will increase by about 1.7 times. Conclusions: The potential of controlling carbon emission intensity through land structure at the urban level is great, and it is feasible to control carbon emission intensity through territorial spatial planning system. The control elements can be divided into the following levels: land supply control, land structure adjustment, land intensity constraint, and function adjustment of existing land

Key Factors of Rural Households’ Willingness to Pay for Cleaner Heating in Hebi: A Case Study in Northern China

As coal-fired heating in winter in rural areas of northern China exacerbates air pollution, promoting cleaner heating transition is of significance for environmental sustainability. However, this is difficult as intentions and actions of rural households are deficient. This case study in northern China aims to estimate rural households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for facilities and energy for cleaner heating and explore its key factors. The survey-based analysis found that the total annual WTP for cleaner heating (sum of the WTP for heating facilities and energy per year) varied from RMB 250 to RMB 6800 (RMB 100 ≈ USD 15 in 2018), with a quite low average and a huge difference. The variation of the WTP can be attributed to economic and demographic features and environmental attitudes of households. Improvement of household income and environmental concern will enhance the WTP for cleaner heating, but a high vacancy rate and aging population in rural areas will generally inhibit it. Based on this study, some policy suggestions were proposed to promote cleaner heating transition in rural households; specifically, more attention should be paid to the poor and aged households

Co-benefits of peaking carbon dioxide emissions on air quality and health, a case of Guangzhou, China

Cities play a key role in making carbon emission reduction targets achievable and tackling air pollution. Using Guangzhou city as a case, this paper explored the air quality and health co-benefits of peaking carbon dioxide emissions under three scenarios and developed an integrated assessment framework by combining a local air pollutant emission inventory, an atmospheric chemistry transport model, and a health assessment model. The results showed that SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 could achieve larger emission reductions than NH3, VOCs, and NOx among all the scenarios we examined. Under the enhanced peaking scenario with the most stringent mitigation strategies, Guangzhou could meet the local ambient air quality standard for PM2.5 (34 mu g/m(3)), with the most reduction observed in the annual average PM2.5 concentration (28.4%) and related premature deaths (17.08%), compared with the base year 2015. We also identified hotspot grids, which were areas with high concentrations of carbon emissions, high concentrations of air pollution and poor air quality in Guangzhou. Our analysis highlighted the importance of promoting peaking carbon dioxide emission for the improvement of air quality and public health at the city level

A new model for China’s CO2 emission pathway using the top-down and bottom-up approaches

Detailed research on China's CO2 emission pathway of the 2030 peak and 2060 carbon neutrality goals is fundamental to promote China's climate change action. Previous studies on emission pathways have been based on long-term emission data or model analyses. However, few studies have achieved synergy and pathway optimization at both the micro and macro levels or focused on China's 2060 carbon neutrality goal, making it difficult to support the systematic management of national and regional emission pathways. In this study, we developed an integrated CO2 emission pathway model, the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning Carbon Pathways 1.2 model, under China's climate change goals. Our pathway coupled the top–down and bottom–up approaches and conducted optimization analysis under social fairness and optimal cost conditions. The results provide a clear CO2 emission pathway and offer insights for implementing fine management of CO2 emissions at the national, regional, sectoral, and spatial gridded levels