Does environmental pollution reduce residents’ income? Evidence from CFPS in China

Understanding the relationship between environmental pollution and residents’ income is extremely important for promoting sustained progress and high-quality economic growth. This research examines the impact, mechanism, and heterogeneity of environmental contamination on residents’ earnings by fusing the micro data from China Family Panel Survey with the macro data of government statistics. The results reveal that environmental degradation has a significantly negative impact on residents’ individual income. Further research on the intermediary mechanism finds that environmental pollution plays a harmful role in residents’ income by reducing residents’ subjective well-being and labor employment. Besides, the income effect of environmental pollution is significantly heterogeneous among different regions and differentiated groups. The deteriorating environmental quality widens urban–rural income gap and increases wage inequality of inhabitants in eastern, central, and western regions of China. The gender income gap and the income disparity between different income brackets also expand with environmental deterioration. These findings not only prove that long-term development at the cost of the ecological environment is undesirable, but also demonstrate the important role of the improvement of ecological environmental quality in promoting human well-being

Temporal Variability of Source-Specific Solvent-Extractable Organic Compounds in Coastal Aerosols over Xiamen, China

This study describes an analysis of ambient aerosols in a southeastern coastal city of China (Xiamen) in order to assess the temporal variability in the concentrations and sources of organic aerosols (OA). Molecular-level measurements based on a series of solvent extractable lipid compounds reveal inherent heterogeneity in OA, in which the concentration and relative contribution of at least three distinct components (terrestrial plant wax derived, marine/microbial and fossil fuel derived organic matter (OM)) exhibited distinct and systematic temporal variability. Plant wax lipids and associated terrestrial OM are influenced by seasonal variability in plant growth; marine/microbial lipids and associated marine OM are modulated by sea spill and temperature change, whereas fossil fuel derived OM reflects the anthropogenic utilization of fossil fuels originated from petroleum-derived sources and its temporal variation is strongly controlled by meteorological conditions (e.g., the thermal inversion layer), which is analogous to other air organic pollutions. A comparative study among different coastal cities was applied to estimate the supply of different sources of OM to ambient aerosols in different regions, where it was found that biogenic OM in aerosols over Xiamen was much lower than that of other cities; however, petroleum-derived OM exhibited a high level of contribution with a higher concentration of unresolved complex matters (UCM) and higher a ratio between UCM and resolved alkanes (UCM/R)

Template-Free Fabrication of TiO₂ Hollow Spheres and Their Photocatalytic Properties

Submicrometer-sized anatase TiO₂ hollow spheres were fabricated through a template-free solvothermal route using TiCl₄ as a raw material and a mixture of alcohols–acetone as solvent. Control of the hollow spheres’ size was achieved by adjusting the ratio of alcohols to acetone. Products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution TEM, X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. It was found that the formation process of the TiO₂ hollow spheres might include the hydrolysis of Ti­(IV) with the water formed from the solvothermal etherification reaction, the aggregation of the anatase TiO₂ nanoparticles, and the Ostwald ripening. Furthermore, the as-prepared TiO₂ hollow nanostructures exhibited good photocatalytic activity for the degradation of phenol

Differentiation of Carbon Sink Enhancement Potential in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region of China

Carbon sink enhancement is of great significance to achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality. This study firstly estimated the carbon sink in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region using the carbon absorption coefficient method. Then, this study explored the differentiation of carbon sink enhancement potential with a carbon sink–economic carrying capacity index matrix based on carbon sink carrying capacity and economic carrying capacity under the baseline scenario and target scenario of land use. The results suggested there was a remarkable differentiation in total carbon sink in the study area, reaching 2,056,400 and 1,528,300 tons in Chengde and Zhangjiakou and being below 500,000 tons in Langfang and Hengshui, while carbon sink per unit land area reached 0.66 ton/ha in Qinhuangdao and only 0.28 t/ha in Tianjin under the baseline scenario. Increasing area and optimizing spatial distribution of arable land, garden land, and forest, which made the greatest contribution to total carbon sinks, is an important way of enhancing regional carbon sinks. A hypothetical benchmark city can be constructed according to Qinhuangdao and Beijing, in comparison with which there is potential for carbon sink enhancement by improving carbon sink capacity in Beijing, promoting economic carrying capacity in Qinhuangdao, and improving both in the other cities in the study area