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The Tibetan Plateau works as an important environmental and ecological barrier for the Asian continent. The researches on Tibetan environment and ecology are becoming extensive, but there is no systematic summary of research hotspots and trends in this field. Here, we analyzed 9180 publications retrieved from the WOS and CNKI during 2000 ~ 2020. The characteristics of publication, keywords with a 5-year interval and co-occurrence analysis were carried out so as to reveal the evolution and development trends of topics. The results show that articles increase dramatically since 2012. Except for common concerns like evolution, climate change, and precipitation, diversity was been studied more by Chinese scholars, while the USA, Germany, UK, and Australia researchers focused more on adaptability, basin western Tibet, lake, barley, and ore-related themes, respectively. Besides, China closely collaborated with the USA, Australia, and Germany in topics of evolution, climate change and degradation, precipitation, and diversity. The institutions located in Chinese different economic regions focused on different research keywords, such as vegetation, growth, trace elements, and geochemistry. The CAS contributed the most articles with 4254, showed advantages both in quantity and quality. Few articles were published by researchers affiliated to Free University of Berlin but with higher citations. It is the only one institute outside of China in the top 20. Main research hotspots include climate change, geology, and diversity. In future researches, ecological management and rehabilitation of mining area and tailings ponds, waste disposal, and changes of soil and water quality are worthy of attention and funding., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

With global warming, the risk of human exposure to extreme climates increases, profoundly impacting sustainable development. Using rapidly developing China as an example, this study estimates the exposure of urban land to drought and flood based on historical and future climate and land data. The results show that the area of urban land exposed to drought in China generally decreases in the future. However, the area exposed to flood sharply increases in the mid- and long-term future, except for the near future. There is heterogeneity in the changes in urban land exposure under different levels of drought and flood. The changes in exposure areas under different future scenarios show spatial differences and an overall trend of spatial aggregation. Climate factors are the main drivers of changes in the area exposed to drought and flood. The findings can provide important references for policy-making and urban land management in response to extreme climate change., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background: Verticillium wilt is a critical disease affecting cotton in the Xinjiang province, a region producing 90% cotton in China. Defining the specific temperature thresholds for disease prevalence is essential but has remained unclear., Results: This study aimed to establish a model to quantify the relationship between temperature and cotton verticillium wilt disease risk. Through a controlled temperature experiment, we identified a nonlinear temperature relationship, with an optimal temperature of 26.5 °C. Then a beta model, parameterized from these findings, was validated against historical regional disease data, confirming its ability to accurately reflect interannual variations in disease occurrence and its direct applicability from laboratory to regional scales. We then utilized the model to project future disease risks under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) climate scenarios. The projections estimate a 4.8% to 10.1% increase in disease risks in Xinjiang by the 2080s under SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, respectively., Conclusion: This research offers a valuable predictive tool for cotton verticillium wilt risks, informing strategic decisions for cotton production in the face of climate change. The successful application of a laboratory-derived model at a regional scale marks a significant advancement in plant disease risk assessment, underscoring temperature as a dominate factor in cotton disease dynamics. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Current knowledge about public climate change perception mainly covers belief, concern, and attitudes. However, how this discourse is interpreted using individuals' own frame of reference remains largely unknown, particularly in many large emitters from non-Annex I countries such as China. This study, for the first time, performs a nationwide open-ended survey covering 4,037 respondents and collected 12,100 textual answers. Using a semiautomated coding method, we find seven mental images that exclusively represent the Chinese interpretation of the climate change issue, including global warming, distant icons, natural disasters, environmental degradation, cause, solution, and weather. Analysis of influencing factors shows that females, those with lower education levels, lower income, and older individuals tend to connect climate change with natural weather phenomena. Younger and well-educated residents in developed cities are more aware of various consequences and anthropogenic causes of climate change. People with stronger climate change beliefs, policy support, and personal experience of extreme weather are more likely to mention disastrous impacts, carbon emission as causes, and potential solutions. Employing the multilevel regression and post-stratification technique, we map the prevalence of mental images in China at the prefecture-city level. The results reveal significant geographical heterogeneity, with estimated national means ranging from a high of 55% (weather) to a low of 11% (solution). Our findings reveal diverse perspectives and a widespread misconception of climate change in China, suggesting the need for tailored clarification strategies to gain public consent., (© 2024 Society for Risk Analysis.)

Saussurea medusa is a rare alpine plant with significant medicinal value. To better understand the changes in its habitat in the context of climate change, this study used an optimized MaxEnt model to predict the current and future habitat of S. medusa under four shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) across three time periods (current, mid-century, and end-century) based on three climate system models. The results showed that the suitable habitat of S. medusa is mainly located in the southern and eastern parts of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (QXP), exhibiting a fragmented distribution pattern. The future suitable area of S. medusa is projected to decrease significantly by 42.5% to 96.7%, accompanied by a southward shift in its centroid and an upward shift in altitude. The study found that the highest temperature in the warmest month is the most important environmental factor affecting the distribution of S. medusa. This species is highly sensitive to climate change and requires urgent protection measures. Priority should focus on strengthening habitat protection in the southeastern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, where some stable habitats remain outside protected areas. Expanding population monitoring, promoting ex-situ conservation, enhancing public education, and encouraging community involvement are essential. Additionally, as a medicinal plant, alternative strategies are needed to curb overharvesting of wild resources., Competing Interests: Declarations: All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on “Ethical responsibilities of Authors” as found in the Instructions for Authors. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Carbon mitigation in the building sector is crucial for China to fulfill its commitments towards achieving a carbon peak and carbon neutrality. However, the impact of societal development and ecological indicators on building carbon emissions remains unclear. This study employs the panel smooth transition regression model to investigate the complex implications of societal development comprehensive indicators, characterized by harmonious development, decoupling, and technological advances, on buildings' total carbon emissions, based on the evidence from China's 30 provinces for the period between 2007 and 2020. Additionally, the robustness of the model confirms that the conclusion is still valid. The empirical results indicate a strongly non-linear relationship between societal development comprehensive indicators and building carbon emissions. Both the harmonious development and technological advances exhibit two transition functions, and decoupling features a single transition function. Harmonious development is more sensitive to the impact of building carbon emissions, while technological advances have tremendous emission reduction potential. From the time dimension, fluctuation trends and ranges are different. From the spatial dimension, the inhibiting and promoting effects on each province have regional heterogeneity. Our results entail suggestions for reduced building total carbon emissions and practical strategies for regional climate resilience and efficiency in mitigating climate change., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the context of the dual carbon targets, digital trade brings new impetus to China's economic development to achieve low-carbon emission reduction. This article uses panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, and uses a two-way fixed effect model to empirically investigate the impact of digital trade development on regional carbon emissions and its heterogeneity. The results show that the development of digital trade significantly reduces regional carbon emissions, and the conclusion is still valid after conducting the robustness tests. Digital trade can reduce regional carbon emissions by exploiting its effects of expanding economic scale, upgrading industrial structure, and promoting green technology innovation. In addition, the carbon reduction effect of digital trade varies due to differences in regions, trade openness, and carbon emission intensity. The carbon reduction effect of digital trade in central and western regions is larger than that in eastern regions, and the effect in inland regions is greater than that in coastal regions. As the degree of trade liberalization increases and carbon intensity decreases, the carbon reduction effect of digital trade will also weaken. The research conclusions have profound practical significance for achieving the carbon neutrality target, effectively addressing climate change, and promoting high-quality economic development., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

One of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the current millennium is the need to mitigate climate change, and one of the most viable options to overcome this challenge is to invest in renewable energy. The study dynamically examines the links between renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, climate change, and economic growth in five emerging Asian countries during the period 1975-2020. Variables selected in the model have long-term cointegration, as explored by the Pedroni cointegration test and the Westerlund cointegration test. The long-term estimated parameters of the augmented mean group (AMG) method show that renewable energy consumption significantly reduces climate change, while non-renewable energy consumption significantly promotes climate change. The results also show that GDP, investment in transport infrastructure, and urbanization can significantly contribute to climate change in selected emerging Asian countries. Moreover, the results validate the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis for emerging Asian economies. Country-specific analysis results using AMG estimates shows that renewable energy consumption reduces climate change in selected emerging Asian countries. Non-renewable energy consumption and investment in transport infrastructure have had significant progressive impacts on climate change in all countries. Urbanization contributes significantly to climate change, with the exception of Japan, which does not have any significant impact on climate change. GDP contributes significantly to climate change in all countries; however, GDP2 has significant adverse effects on climate change in India, China, Japan, and Korea, validating the inverted U-shaped EKC assumption for all countries except Bangladesh. Moreover, the Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test confirmed a pairwise causal relationship between non-renewable energy consumption and GDP, supporting the feedback hypothesis. The results suggest that the best option for climate change mitigation in selected emerging Asian countries is to transition from non-renewable to renewable energy sources., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Given the context of significant global warming and the intensification of extreme climate events in the last century, large-scale reforestation and afforestation have been recognized as effective strategies to mitigate the climate crisis. Since the 1970s, China has launched several afforestation programs aimed at regional ecological protection, playing an important role in reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. This study provided a detailed analysis of the growth suitability of the main planted conifers (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica and Pinus tabulaeformis) and broadleaves (Populus spp., Robinia pseudoacacia) in the semi-arid northern China. We compared the radial growth trends of plantations and their responses to extreme droughts from 1980 to 2018. Growth of most plantations has significantly increased over time, but broadleaves showed recent growth reductions in the past decade, which may be related to tree age and reduced soil moisture. Nevertheless, under warmer climate scenarios, the growth of plantations is forecasted to continue increasing. Broadleaves showed a better post-drought recovery, probably linked to their anisohydric behavior, than conifers, which presented a better resistance to drought. Growth of conifers depended more on warmer temperature and better precipitation conditions during the growing season, whereas broadleaves mainly reacted to warm temperature. Additionally, pre-drought growth levels weakened resilience components, while post-drought precipitation compensated for drought-induced growth deficit. Growth and resilience were negatively related to tree age, while higher stand density reduced growth. This assessment and projections of growth and drought resilience indicate the sustainability of most plantations in semi-arid regions, but future warmer and drier conditions may lead to an uncertain future regarding forest health and reduce their carbon sink potential., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Crop migration can moderate the impacts of global warming on crop production, but its feedback on the climate and environment remains unknown. Here we develop an integrated framework to capture the climate impacts and the feedback of adaptation behaviours with the land-water-energy-carbon nexus perspective and identify opportunities to achieve the synergies between climate adaptation and environmental sustainability. We apply the framework to assess wheat and maize migration in the North China Plain and show that adaptation through wheat migration could increase crop production by ~18.5% in the 2050s, but at the cost of disproportional increment in land use (~19.2%), water use (~20.2%), energy use (~19.5%) and carbon emissions (~19.9%). Irrigation and fertilization management are critical mitigation opportunities in the framework, through which wheat migration can be optimized to reduce the climatic and environmental impacts and avoid potential carbon leakage. Our work highlights the sustainable climate adaptation to mitigate negative environmental externalities., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Although global warming is a serious problem that influences numerous people worldwide, individuals are still reluctant to change their behaviours. The present research investigates how local hot temperatures affect climate action in non-Western groups. In Study 1, an analysis of temperature and information acquisition by Shanghai residents in 122 days found that heat increased attention and awareness of climate change. In Study 2 and Study 3, participants who were primed with heat-related perceptions were more likely to take climate action in private and public spheres. In Study 4, we further identified that people who experienced hot temperature events increased their beliefs and efficacy about climate change, which in turn motivated them to take more climate action. Importantly, the mediating effects were significant both in the manipulation of heat and real-world settings. Consistent with our theoretical perspective, seeing is more than believing because personal experience increases climate action by fostering climate change beliefs and efficacy., (© 2024 The British Psychological Society.)

Narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas is the key to achieving common prosperity in China. On the basis of analyzing the mechanism of climate change's impact on urban-rural income gap, this article empirically analyzes the impact of climate change on urban-rural income gap using provincial-level panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020. Research indicates that climate change significantly impacts the urban-rural income gap at the 1% significance level, implying that climate change exacerbates the urban-rural income gap. This widening effect varies significantly across different regions, particularly in the western regions and areas with lower fiscal support for agriculture. Further analysis reveals that there is a mediating role between the total agricultural output value and resource mismatch in the impact of climate change on urban-rural income inequality; the digital rural construction plays a regulatory role in the impact of climate change on the urban-rural income gap. On this basis, policy recommendations are proposed to promote the development of climate-resilient agriculture, improve the meteorological forecast and early warning system, increase financial support, and optimize the allocation of agricultural resources., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Climate change is one of the major threats to coastal fish biodiversity, and optimization of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) is imminent. We predicted fish redistribution under climate change in coastal China Seas with joint species distribution modeling and prioritized areas for conservation with Zonation, for which we used core area zonation (CAZ) and additive benefit function (ABF). Based on our results, we devised an expansion plan of no-take MPAs. Under climate change, fish were redistributed northward along the coast. These redistributions were segmented by the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent waters, indicating a possible biogeographical barrier. Under CAZ and ABF, significantly more fish habitat was conserved than under random prioritization (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -0.36 and -0.62, respectively). The ABF better represented areas with higher species richness, whereas CAZ better represented core habitats for species with narrow distributions. Without accounting for species redistribution, the expanded MPAs were mainly distributed in the northwest of the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the north of the Yellow Sea, and the west of the Bohai Sea. When accounting for species redistribution, the proposed MPAs were mainly distributed in the north of the Bohai Sea and southwest of the Yellow Sea, corresponding to the northern species redistributions. These MPAs conserved less habitat for fishes at present but protected more and better quality habitat for fishes in 2050 and 2100 than those MPAs that did not account for species redistribution, indicating improved fish conservation under climate change. Incorporating species redistribution and trade-offs between areas with high species richness and areas that contain habitats for rare species are suggested to address coastal fish conservation under climate change. This work provides valuable information for fish conservation and is a precursor to systematic conservation planning along the coastlines of China Seas., (© 2023 Society for Conservation Biology.)

The three challenges with the greatest bearing on Australia's security and prosperity each came to a head in 2020, viz. climate change; a novel coronavirus pandemic; and China. The world has become poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly. As we emerge from this crisis year, Australia's ability to project itself globally will start with its strength and vitality at home. Its favourable geography gives it the potential to become a leader in renewables. Given our geopolitical challenges, this is a strategic imperative. Yet, for now, the gap between reality and expectations has never been greater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Under the background of global warming, the intensity and frequency of extreme meteorological events in the maize growing season in northeast China are increasing. In order to clarify the occurrence characteristics of extreme meteorological events in northeast China, this study focused on three extreme agrometeorological events, i.e., high temperatures, drought, and the compound events of high-temperature and drought during the maize growing season (May-September), impacting maize production., Results: Based on historical (1981-2017) and future (2021-2060) climate data, we analyzed the spatial-temporal patterns of these three events with different intensities in northeast China. The results indicated that slight high-temperatures and moderate and severe droughts occurred more frequently in the study area during the historical period. The frequency of the different grades of the compound events of high-temperature and drought will exhibit an increasing trend in the future, as will the frequency of the compound events of high-temperature and drought. This is particularly evident in the northwest of the study area., Conclusion: The compound events of high-temperature and drought mainly occurred in late July and early August, encompassing the flowering stage of maize varieties. It is important to identify the area and time of major extreme weather events to implement the necessary preventive measures. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.)

This study sought to investigate the impacts of climate change on cereal production in China over the period 1990Q1-2013Q4. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, the results showed that CO 2 emissions, average temperature, and temperature variability have a significant negative impact on cereal production in the long run. However, energy consumption, average rainfall, labor force, and cultivated area significantly and positively influenced the production of cereal crops in the long run. Meanwhile, the study observed that rainfall variability has no significant effect on cereal production in the long run. The study again found that in the short run, CO 2 emissions, average temperature, and temperature variability have a significant negative relationship with cereal production. Besides, energy consumption, average rainfall, rainfall variability, labor force, and the cultivated area had a significant positive association with cereal production in the short run. The results of the Granger causality test showed that there exists a unidirectional causality running from CO 2 emissions, energy consumption, and labor force to the production of cereal crops in China. On the contrary, the study found no causality between cultivated area and cereal production. The study suggests that improved cereal crop varieties ought to be developed and introduced to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change in China. This will help to circumvent Huang et al.'s (2017) prediction of a decline in the total food self-sufficiency of China from 94.5% in 2015 to about 91% by 2025.

Clarifying the spatiotemporal variation of crop irrigation water requirement (IWR) under the background of climate change is an essential basis for water resource management, determining the irrigation quota and adjusting the planting structure. Using 61 years of climate data from 205 stations in Northwest China, this study investigated the spatiotemporal variations of climatic factors and IWR during the growth period of five main grain crops (spring wheat, winter wheat, spring maize, summer maize, and rice) and explored the dominant climatic driving factors of IWR variation. Results showed that (1) the IWR of grain crops showed distinct differences. Rice was the highest water consumption crop (mean of 753.78 mm), and summer maize was the lowest (mean of 452.90 mm). (2) The variation trends and average values of IWR of different grain crops have spatial heterogeneity across Northwest China. For most crops, high values and increasing trends of IWR were mainly located in eastern Xinjiang, western Gansu, and western Inner Mongolia. (3) T max (maximum temperature), T min (minimum temperature), and P eff (effective precipitation) showed an increasing trend during the growth period of each grain crop, while U 10 (wind speed at 10 m height), SD (solar radiation), and RH (relative humidity) presented decreasing trends. (4) SD, T max , and U 10 promoted the increase of grain crops' IWR, while P eff and RH inhibited it. The impacts of climatic factors on the grain crop IWR differed among different regions. P eff was the most influential factor to the IWR of all grain crops in most areas. Therefore, under the premise of a significant increase in T and uncertain precipitation mode in the future, it is urgent to take effective water-saving measures according to the irrigation needs of the region. To cope with the adverse impact of climate change on the sustainable development of agriculture in the northwest dry area, to ensure regional and national food security., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Climate change exacerbates uncertainties in water resource management, water supply, and treatment that are energy intensive and then exert great pressure on climate change mitigation; hence, interrelated and contradictory characteristics within the water-climate change (WC) nexus system are needed to be studied. The nexus thinking and coordination of WC would impact many realistic practices and assist in sustainable socioeconomic development since traditional single-target policies have sometimes been out of function. Hence, the ability to direct water production and use as well as climate change mitigation has become a hotspot recently. Furthermore, we find that there has been no complete research on reviewing the impacts of the WC nexus in different areas on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, this paper builds a core nexus of WC and then analyzes those effects on social and environmental aspects in many areas, including sewage treatment, energy transition, waste treatment, land management, and ocean management. This paper discusses how WC interlinkages are utilized to realize SDGs in those areas. Moreover, uncertainties derived from exogenous hydrology, climate change, and anthropogenic endogenous systems for realistic problems appeal to gradually increasing concern. Finally, implications offer valuable guidelines for integrated management of water and carbon emissions, as well as sustainable socioeconomic development in the future., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Vegetation dynamics is an important aspect for determining climate change trends. The present study delineates to examine spatiotemporal changes of vegetation cover in Pindari valley (Kumaun Himalaya) from the 1972 to 2018 timeline. The study includes the calculation of vegetation spectral indices of normalized vegetation index (NDVI), extraction of different vegetation classes, and statistical analysis of the Mann-Kendall (MK) test on historical metrological data (especially precipitation and temperature) of the study site. For the statistical analysis of metrological data, the power data access viewer datasets have been used. The central feature classes of the study are grassland, scrubland, and forest cover. The results revealed that the region's forest cover significantly decreased by 24.74 sq. km from 1972 to 2018, increased in grassland cover by 17.84 sq. km, respectively, and a slight increase in scrubland class by 3.13 sq. km for the study period. The calculated NDVI shows significant changes over the study location; it has been noticed that the maximum values of the NDVI decreased by 0.24, and the minimum values show growth of about 0.047. The analysis indicates that climatic parameters such as precipitation and temperature are the main limiting factors affecting vegetation growth. The annual mean maximum temperature showed a decreasing trend. The estimated results show an increase in annual rainfall and annual minimum temperature, while the decreasing trend is observed in the case of maximum annual temperature. Objectives of the study are (1) spatiotemporal analysis of the vegetation cover, (2) identification of the main causes of change in the vegetation cover, and (3) statistical trend analysis of long-term metrological data. The outcome of the presented research work would be beneficial for the proper management and monitoring of the forest ecosystem., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The past few decades of extreme drought and flooding caused by changing climate conditions have significantly affected agricultural production globally. This study focuses on two vital crops in China-maize and rice-and provides a comprehensive analysis of how these crops are affected by climate change-induced factors over the periods 1978Q1-2015Q4. Four key findings were obtained. First, using a nonparametric approach to estimate actual and observed trends of climatic variables, the results show a significant positive trend in average temperature from February to October. On the other hand, seasonal temperature increases during spring, summer, and autumn. Second, the results show no significant change in the monthly, seasonal, and annual rainfall patterns when examined over the study period. Third, using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, we find that while temperature and rainfall do not significantly support rice production in the long and short run, they play a substantial role in maize production in China. Finally, we find no significant difference in the results for rice when the quantile regression (QR) technique that controls for distributional asymmetry effects is employed. However, the impact of temperature on maize decreases at higher quantiles. Given the outcomes of our study, we argue that an advanced irrigation system is crucial and must be encouraged to minimize the effects of climate change on crop production., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

China has been the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide since 2006. To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, social scientists must become involved in China's deep decarbonization process. However, Chinese social scientists have given little attention to climate change in their bibliometric research. Based on the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index journal catalog of the four essential social sciences, namely, management, economics, politics, and sociology, we used the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database to quantify the extent to which Chinese social scientists are concerned about climate change. The results showed that from 1978 to 2020, 1179 articles on climate change were published in management, economics, politics, and sociology journals, which represented only 26.8% of the 4397 articles published on pollution in the same journals. Politics journals published the most articles (38.76%), while sociology journals published the fewest (2.37%). Thus, Chinese social scientists rarely considered climate change, mainly because this topic remains controversial in some fields and because of the influence of international politics in addition to the promotion and incentive mechanisms for researchers. We analyzed the keywords and evolution of climate change research in the four social sciences and our results show that social scientists should give greater emphasis to climate change in their research., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

China has always tried to maintain multilateralism and advocated working together to deal with global climate change through multilateral mechanisms. Although China’s announcement to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 comes as no surprise, its commitment to carbon neutrality does. As the period between its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is far shorter than that in the developed countries, China’s economic and energy structures need to be adjusted toward the low-carbon and carbon-free end with unprecedented efforts. To that end, China should define the responsibilities of local authorities and industrial entities to promote the orderly accomplishment of carbon peaking in all regions and industries. To supply the huge investments needed to achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, China has an urgent need to accelerate the development of green finance and a national carbon emissions trading market, guide the rational allocation of resources, and channel resources to eco-friendly projects for green and low-carbon development. At the same time, China and the international community should strengthen dialogue and coordination, promote international cooperation on the way to carbon neutrality, formulate widely acceptable policy guidelines as soon as possible, and avoid unilateral measures that may cause conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the relationship and its dynamics between green finance and rural revitalisation is crucial for achieving an equitable, sustainable economy and low-carbon transition. This paper develops a comprehensive evaluation system for green finance and rural revitalisation, utilising data from 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2020, and reveals the coordinated relationship and spatial characteristics. From the system theory, the coordinated and interacting relationship between green finance and rural revitalisation and its geographic features are also described in this paper. The results show that green finance levels have significantly increased across 31 provinces in China. The rural revitalisation process is also moving forward, and there is mutual reinforcement that creates a balance of harmonious symbiosis and positive interaction between green finance and rural revitalization. The relationship between the two also exhibits distinct stages and notable regional disparities, resulting in a spatial and temporal pattern characterised by 'high east, sluggish middle, and delayed in the west.' At the same time, a pattern of green finance development has appeared in the demonstrative unit of development. However, to enable the revitalisation of rural areas through green policies, it must accelerate the development of rural revitalisation and provide more robust and focused policy support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces papers published within the issue which were presented at the 6th Annual Forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) in Amherst, Massachusetts in May 2011, including one on state-owned enterprises (SOE) in China, another on the implications of the need to prevent major climate change for the developmental strategies of China and India and a paper on the influence of neoliberalism on the reform of emergency services in Great Britain.

Under the backdrop of climate warming and changes in snow cover area, the spatial fragmentation characteristics of snow cover need to be studied in depth. In this study, we analyzed the spatial and temporal change patterns of the snow cover area and explored the changing characteristics of its spatial fragmentation in Northeast China from 1980 to 2019 using the "China AVHRR Daily Cloudless 5 km Snow Area Product Dataset." The findings indicate that the mean stable snow cover area in Northeast China from 1980 to 2019 was 79.41 × 104 km2 (±14.47 × 104 km2), with no significant changes observed since the 1980s. However, compared to the 1980s, mountainous areas such as the Changbai Mountain and Lesser Khingan Mountain regions were identified as the main areas of snow cover recession. The mean patch size (MPS), largest pach index (LPI) and patch size coefficient of variation (PSCV) for spatial fragmentation from 1980 to 2019 showed the following rates of change of −1.06 × 104 km2/10 a (p < 0.05), −1.04%/10 a (p > 0.05), and 71.6%/10 a (p < 0.05), respectively. The spatial continuity of snow fragmentation in Northeast China has significantly increased, with fragmentation showing significant growth. From 2010 to 2019, the spatial fragmentation of snow cover in Northeast China increased by 50% compared to the 1980–1989 period. This paper suggests that the increase in temperature is the major factor leading to the fragmentation of snow cover. The main contribution of this paper is the analysis of the change characteristics of the spatial fragmentation in regional snow cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gross primary production (GPP) plays a crucial role in carbon cycling and ecosystem productivity, yet its variability is significantly influenced by climatic factors. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variability of GPP in China's terrestrial ecosystems, with a focus on water and energy limitations. It aims to clarify the relationship between GPP and climatic variables across different regimes. The results reveal nonlinear turning points in more than half of the country's regions, most turning points occurred in the 1980s and 2000s. Water-related factors predominantly influenced GPP changes, while energy limitations contributed to GPP decline in certain areas. Over the past decade, ecological restoration efforts focused on vegetation greening have enhanced habitat quality in China. However, future climate warming is projected to shift more regions into energy-limited conditions, leading to negative GPP sensitivity to temperature and SSRD, and potentially accelerating GPP degradation. These findings underscore the need for targeted management strategies in energy-limited regions to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on ecosystem productivity. This study provides critical insights into the interplay between climatic factors and GPP dynamics, offering a valuable framework for future research and policy development aimed at sustaining ecosystem services under changing climatic conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The interplay between climate change and socio-economic activities has placed cities at the forefront of climate-related threats. Evaluating and enhancing urban climate resilience are widely regarded as effective strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. This study aims to develop a more logical, comprehensive, and replicable urban climate resilience assessment framework to accurately evaluate and enhance urban climate resilience, thereby supporting urban growth and development in climate change. Specifically, the study focused on the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA), a region with typical climate risks, using the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model to construct an urban climate resilience assessment framework and selecting evaluation indicators based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including a new index: government climate policy concern. Subsequently, spatial autocorrelation, geographically and temporally weighted regression model, the coupling and coordination degree model, and the super-SBM model were applied. This approach revealed the spatial and temporal evolution trends, driving factors, coupling coordination degree, and construction efficiency of urban climate resilience in the YRDUA from 2013 to 2021. The results show that: (1) Urban climate resilience levels exhibited significant regional disparities, with a mean resilience score of 0.256 and an average annual growth rate of 1.21%. (2) A notable spatial correlation was observed in urban climate resilience, with the radius of the High-High cluster area expanding, while the radius of the Low-Low cluster area contracted. (3) The key factors driving urban climate resilience included water and forest coverage areas, climate policy concern, and investment in municipal public facilities construction. The impact of these factors displayed notable spatial heterogeneity. (4) The coupling coordination degree between resilience subsystems increased by 7.96%, yet remained on the verge of imbalance. Additionally, the average technical efficiency and scale efficiency of urban climate resilience construction rose by 7.43% and 5.44%, respectively, though significant room for improvement remains. Our research advocated for re-examining urban climate resilience through the lens of causality and sustainable development, offering valuable insights for policymakers in China and international initiatives., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Rapid urbanization and climate change exacerbate soil erosion globally, threatening ecosystem services and sustainable development. However, current predictive studies on future soil erosion often lack comprehensive consideration of the interactions between land use and climate change. This study proposed a comprehensive scenario analysis framework that integrated four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) from CMIP6 with four bespoke land-use scenarios (Inertial Development (IDS), Urban Development Priority (UDPS), Ecological Protection Priority (EPPS), and Farmland Protection Priority (FPPS)) to create 16 future scenarios, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of potential soil erosion trajectories. The results indicated that (1) compared to the baseline period (2000-2020), future soil erosion in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration (CYUA) would improve, albeit with significant differences among the scenarios. The most notable improvement was under EPPS + SSP1-2.6 scenario (ScC1). (2) The lower Jinsha, upper Nanpan, and Red river basins were high-risk areas for soil erosion in the CYUA, each dominated by different factors, necessitating differentiated soil erosion control measures. (3) Land-use and climate change jointly influenced the direction of erosion development, with the lightest erosion occurring under the EPPS and heaviest erosion occurring under the FPPS. The largest decrease in erosion occurs under SSP1-2.6, whereas the smallest decrease occurs under SSP5-8.5. (4) Climate change had a more significant impact on soil erosion than land-use change, with the reduction rates of the soil erosion modulus and area between different climate change scenarios relative to the past 20 years being 9% and 3.77%, respectively, approximately eight and four times the magnitude of change under different land-use scenarios. This study recommends reducing carbon emissions, enhancing vegetation cover, and controlling slope land development to effectively mitigate the soil erosion risk in CYUA and promote regional sustainable development. The proposed comprehensive scenario analysis method provides new insights into future global small-scale regional predictions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Anthropogenic climate change will have a negative impact on worldwide well-being over and above the direct consequences of rising average temperatures. But anthropogenic heat (AH) relationship with childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is unknown. To assess the relationship with AH exposure and childhood ADHD symptoms in the context of global climate change, this study was conducted in a cross-sectional survey from April 2012 to May 2018 in the northeastern, northwestern, and southern regions of China, with a total enrollment of 179,846 children aged 6-18 years. Exposure to AH was evaluated by gathering socioeconomic and energy usage data along with nighttime light data from satellites and data on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. This encompassed four types of AH exposure: industrial processes, transportation, buildings, and human metabolism. The statistical analysis used generalized linear mixed-effects modeling to determine the association between the types of AH exposure and childhood ADHD symptoms. The mean (SD) age of the 179,846 study participants was 11.7 (2.9) years, and 7343 participants (4.1%) had ADHD symptoms. In adjusted models, increased levels of AH exposure per IQR from total AH, industry, transportation, buildings, and human metabolism all increased the odds of ADHD (odds ratios, 3.60 [95% CI, 3.42, 3.80]; 5.71 [95% CI, 5.32, 6.14]; 1.79 [95% CI, 1.75, 1.84]; 2.10 [95% CI, 2.03, 2.17]; 1.95 [95% CI, 1.89, 2.02]). The association remained robust after various sensitivity analyses. Prolonged exposure to AH is associated with the development of ADHD symptoms in children., Competing Interests: Declaration of interest statement The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Northern China's grasslands play a pivotal role in livestock production, energy utilization, and ecosystem balance, both domestically and globally. However, they exhibit pronounced temporal variability and marked spatial heterogeneity. Since most existing studies rely on single vegetation indices and regional-scale analyses, they may introduce biases in interpreting grassland dynamics and their underlying drivers. To address this gap, we integrated both functional and structural indices - Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), solar-Induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) - to systematically investigate spatiotemporal trends across various grassland types in northern China. Using partial derivative analysis, we quantified the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to these observed vegetation trends. Results indicated that over 70 % of grassland areas, especially temperate grasslands, showed an overall increase in vegetation indices, while a decline was observed in the southwestern alpine grasslands. Climate change was the primary driver of grassland greening (56.55 %-63.83 %), primarily through increased precipitation in temperate grasslands and rising temperatures in alpine grasslands. Human activities contributed substantially to greening (36.17 %-43.45 %), especially in desertified temperate grasslands (e.g., Mu Us Sandy Land, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang) and Qinghai alpine meadows, mainly through farmland restoration and desertification control. Conversely, human activities also served as the primary driver of grassland degradation (51.70 %-69.64 %) in certain alpine regions, where overgrazing and population growth - compounded by rising temperatures and declining soil moisture - led to significant vegetation losses. Moreover, 72.66 % of temperate grasslands demonstrated strong coupling between vegetation structure and function, whereas 57.59 % of alpine grasslands exhibited increasing GPP alongside declines in both LAI and SIF. Overall, these findings underscore the spatial heterogeneity of grassland responses to climatic and anthropogenic drivers, highlighting the necessity of employing multiple vegetation indices to guide targeted and effective grassland management strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Noctiluca scintillans is one of the most common harmful algal species worldwide. In this study, a MaxEnt model was constructed to calculate the present and future habitat suitability of N. scintillans in the China Sea. A comprehensive evaluation index of variable importance was defined to measure the importance of key predictors in the model, and offshore distance, long-term average minimum primary productivity, water depth, long-term average minimum temperature, and minimum salinity were determined as the dominant drivers. The HAB index that was constructed by integrating the carrying capacity and habitat suitability characteristics was used to measure the risk of harmful algal blooms (HABs). The index indicated that high-risk areas of HABs caused by N. scintillans occurred around Hainan Island, Taiwan Island, the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces, and the eastern nearshore area of Weihai in Shandong. Regardless of the greenhouse gas emission scenario, the occurrence of N. scintillans red tides was predicted to persist until 2100. Moreover, the total area of the HABs high zone was predicted to increase under RCP2.6 and decrease under RCP8.5, and the center of the integrated HABs high zone was predicted to be concentrated in the central area of the entire China Sea spanning 15°N to 33°N., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Forest age structures have been substantially affected by natural disturbances and anthropogenic activities worldwide. Their changes can significantly influence local and nonlocal climate through both the biogeochemical and biophysical processes. However, numerous studies have focused on the biogeochemical effect of forest age changes whereas the biophysical effect has received far less attention. Here we investigated how forest age changes influence land surface temperature (LST) by comparing older forests and adjacent younger forests pixels and unraveled underlying biophysical mechanisms using satellite observations over China during 2003-2012. Our study showed that older forests had a substantial annual cooling benefit than adjacent medium-aged and young forests. Attribution analysis indicated that the cooling effect of latent heat flux counteracted the albedo-induced warming effect, leading to the net cooling effect of older evergreen needle-leaved forest or evergreen broadleaved forest. Furthermore, the cooling effect of sensible heat flux is greater than the albedo-driven warming effect, contributing to the net cooling effect of older deciduous broadleaved forest. Our work is a step forward to underscore the potential of preserving mature forests as a local climate adaptation strategy and provides important parameterization foundation for earth system models without incorporation of forest age modules., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study explores the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of ecosystem services (ESs) in the karst region of southeastern Yunnan under the backdrop of climate change. The study innovatively calculates the sustainable development goals (SDG) index based on ecosystem services (ESs). It employs the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model to simulate future land use changes (LUCs) and uses the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model to assess ESs under different scenarios. This research systematically evaluates the ESs and SDGs in karst regions within the context of climate change. The results indicate that: (1) Under all three scenarios in 2035, the trend of LUCs in the karst area of southeastern Yunnan is highly consistent, though the intensity and spatial configuration vary significantly. The least reduction in arable land area occurs under the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) 126 scenario, while water bodies and construction land show varying degrees of increase; (2) Regarding ESs, both water yield and soil retention exhibit an increasing trend across all scenarios by 2035, with the most notable rise under SSP126. Conversely, habitat quality and carbon storage show a decline, with the smallest decrease also under SSP126; (3) Analyzing the SDG index, the overall value is low in 2020. In future scenarios, the SDG index increases in the southern part while decreasing in the eastern part, indicating significant differences in regional sustainable development potential. Hotspots under SSP126 and SSP245 are concentrated in the densely vegetated southwest and eastern edge areas, while cold spots are mainly found in the heavily human-impacted central Yunnan urban agglomeration and Wenshan City. This study systematically explores for the first time the spatiotemporal dynamics of ESs in the karst region of southeastern Yunnan under different climate scenarios. It provides scientific evidence for regional ecological protection and land use planning., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright: © 2025 Zhou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The changes in lake ice phenology (LIP) can intuitively reflect the climate evolution in the regions where lakes are located, serving as an important indicator of climate change. The Tianshan Mountains, situated at the southern edge of freezing lakes in the Northern Hemisphere, are a crucial water resource base in Xinjiang and support significant ecosystems closely related to human activities. In the context of intensified climate change, this study focuses on the geographical location, altitude, and water quality differences among large lake groups in the mid-latitude region of Xinjiang, aiming to explore the characteristics of LIP changes in these lakes and their responses to driving factors, thereby providing a basis for effective environmental management and protection. This research conducts a comparative analysis of the LIP changes and driving factors of three large lakes-Sayram Lake (SL), Bosten Lake (BL), and Ebnur Lake (EL)-using multi-source remote sensing data to reveal the response and adaptation mechanisms of lakes under global warming. It effectively captures the time series variations of ice formation and melting, as well as the common responses to environmental and climatic factors. The results indicate that SL has experienced significant climate change effects, with earlier freezing times and accelerated melting speeds; In contrast, EL and BL have shown relatively minor changes, suggesting that geographical and hydrological factors may buffer the impacts of climate. The study finds that all three lakes are jointly influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, wind speed, and precipitation; however, due to differences in altitude, lake surface area, and water transparency, their responses to these climatic factors vary significantly. For instance, SL's high altitude gives water transparency a dominant role in LIP, while BL's larger surface area enhances the impact of precipitation and thermal capacity on the melting process. This indicates that, despite facing similar climate pressures, local environmental conditions can lead to different trends in ice phenology changes. This study offers a novel and efficient monitoring method for LIP, providing valuable insights for future LIP research and water resource management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Yusufujiang Rusuli, as the corresponding author, reports financial support from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Science and Technology Innovation Base Construction Plan Project (Project No: 2020D04039) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos: 41764003 and U1703341). The first author, Yimuran Kuluwan, reports financial support from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Graduate Innovation Project of China (Project No: XJ2024G212). The authors declare that there are no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The cost effectiveness of mitigating climate change through afforestation needs to be evaluated for regions with a fragile environment and vulnerable ecosystems. This study develops an integrated geographic-economic-ecological framework to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of afforestation for carbon sequestration in Northwest China. It employs a spatial model of natural factors and a bioeconomic optimization model to identify marginal lands suitable for afforestation. Results indicate that nearly five million hectares of land are ecologically suitable and available for afforestation, but only some 215,000 to 583,000 ha are economically feasible for afforestation, accounting for about one-eight of ecologically available land. The lands suitable for afforestation are primarily grasslands and other marginal lands distributed in Qinghai and Gansu provinces. Afforestation has the potential to remove 1.05-1.21 million tons of CO 2 per year from the atmosphere in Northwest China. By 2060, this potential will cumulatively sequester 31.12-35.76 Mt CO 2 but contribute only 1%∼2% (depending on the level of incentives) of the region's CO 2 uptake required to attain carbon neutrality. Further, compared with industrial emissions reduction and forestry activities in other jurisdictions, afforestation in Northwest China is not a cost-effective means for mitigating climate change. This conclusion likely relates to negligence in many studies regarding the inclusion of non-climate related ecological opportunity costs of potential candidate marginal lands for afforestation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) has emerged as a focal point of global vegetation greening due to climate change and human activities. Given its ecological vulnerability and intense human activities, environmental sustainability has become an urgent concern for scholars. Current research on the hydrological effects of vegetation greening, from a reductionist perspective, still struggle to answer the crucial question that whether vegetation water stress is increasing or decreasing. Towards that, we adopt a holistic perspective to explore the relationships between monthly vegetation dynamics and multiple water stress indicators in the YRB from 1982 to 2018. Using statistical methods and the random forest model, we revealed that both gross primary productivity and water use efficiency showed an increasing trend, with rates of 5.83 g Cm -2 and 0.01 g Cmm -1 m -2 per year, respectively. We identified that with increasing climatic aridity, the water stress factors for vegetation transition from monthly scale water conditions (vapor pressure deficit, VPD) to 1-2 months scale (soil water content, SWC) and seasonal scale (standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index-3, SPEI-3) water balance status. And with an aridity index of 0.35 as the threshold, the response of vegetation to water stress factors exhibits marked spatial differentiation. Furthermore, since 2000, despite a persistent greening trend in the YRB, there has been a noticeable expansion in the spatial range of intermediate and long-term water stress factors (SWC, SPEI-3), indicating an enhancing vegetation water stress. This suggests that a serious attention should be paid to the future ecological security of the YRB under the intensified climate change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

China is concurrently facing the dual challenges of air pollution and climate change. Here, we established a coupled modeling framework that integrated a chemical transport model with a health impact assessment model and the human capital method, to quantify the contributions of 150 emission sources (five sectors in 30 provinces) to the CO 2 emissions, and the mortality burdens attributed to O 3 and PM 2.5 . We found that, in 2019, the estimated premature deaths in China attributed to PM 2.5 and O 3 pollution were 1,499,073 and 143,420, respectively. The social cost of air pollution was approximately 232 billion USD (PM 2.5 : 212 billion USD, O 3 : 20 billion USD), comparable to the social cost of CO 2 emissions at 246 billion USD. The social costs of air pollution and carbon emissions attributable to the 150 emission sources exhibited significant heterogeneity. We identified the control priorities and primary control targets for each emission source. Consequently, based on the social costs of air pollution and climate impact, we proposed a synergistic emission control policy that accounted for spatial distribution and sectoral categories. This policy aimed to harmonize the control strategies for PM 2.5 pollution, O 3 pollution, and CO 2 emissions, thereby enhancing the comprehensive benefits of mitigation measures. Our study sheds light on optimizing emission control policies, enhancing the realism of relevant policy-making for synergistic control of air pollution and carbon emissions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Global climate change has led to more frequent extreme temperature (extreme heat and cold) events, posing a serious threat to coral reef ecosystems. Higher latitudes are considered potential refuges for reef-building corals, but their response to extreme temperature stress in these regions remain unclear. This study, indoor simulated stress experiments ranging on Porites lutea from Weizhou Island in the northern part of the South China Sea, simulating suitable (26 °C) to extreme high (34 °C) and extreme low (12 °C) temperatures. Physiological, biochemical, and transcriptional responses, were analysed. Results showed P. lutea's tentacles contracted, and symbiotic relationships broke down at both high and low temperatures; leading to oxidative stress, and a higher risk of disease. The coral host's response to temperature stress was positively regulated, mainly through apoptosis and metabolic inhibition pathways, whereas Symbiodiniaceae C15 showed no significant response to either high- or low-temperature stress. The coral host played a dominant role in the holobiont's stress response, using similar mechanisms for both high- and low-temperatures with some differences in the details. This study enhances understanding the temperature response mechanisms of the dominant coral species, P. lutea in the relatively high-latitude regions of the South China Sea., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Since the Industrial Revolution, anthropogenic activities have substantially increased the input of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) into river watersheds, exacerbated by uncertainties stemming from climate change. This study provided a detailed analysis of N and P inputs within the Dawen River Watershed in China from 2000 to 2021. The Net Anthropogenic Nitrogen Input (NANI) and Net Anthropogenic Phosphorus Input (NAPI) methods were used in study, which aimed to investigate how they respond to various climate change factors. Our findings reveal a generally decreasing trend in NANI, with an average of 17,882.34 kg/km 2 /yr. NAPI showed an initially increasing and then decreasing trend, with an average value of 5151.79 kg/km 2 /yr. Fertilizer usage emerged as the primary sources of nutrient inputs, accounting for approximately 63.42% of N and 61.88% of P inputs. Precipitation positively impacted the NANI and NAPI while temperature exerted more influential but opposing effects. Lag effects were evident as demonstrated by the stronger impacts of temperature in preceding year on NANI and NAPI. Moreover, climate not only influenced the quantity of NANI and NAPI but also impacted their changes, as well as the inputs of their components. Through quantitative analyses, we unveiled key thresholds in the correlation between nutrient inputs and climate variables, with cutoffs of 14.1 °C in temperature and 820 mm in precipitation. Our study highlights the complex relationships between anthropogenic nutrient inputs and climate change, and identifies critical climate thresholds that underscore the importance of sustainable management practices in the Dawen River Watershed to mitigate negative environmental impacts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Extreme climate change induced by carbon emissions has received extensive attention from governments worldwide. Strong competition in local governments' dual-carbon attention (GCA) produces an effective influence on the reduction of regional carbon emissions, confirming crucial policy implications. In this study, textual content analysis is employed to measure the GCA level and GCA competition, and the mechanism by which GCA competition reduces regional carbon emissions in China is explored from the perspective of competition behaviors. The findings demonstrate that the increase of GCA competition positively influences the reduction of regional carbon emissions. Influence mechanism analyses verify that increasing GCA competition primarily stimulates the greater reduction of regional carbon emissions by intensifying competition in energy consumption reduction and the optimization of the energy consumption structure. The influence of GCA competition on reduced regional carbon emissions is significantly related to industrial structure upgrading, the energy consumption structure, and environmental governance investment, as well as inter-government competition in these areas. The detailed findings of this research can provide economic and environmental benefits for policymakers, and can provide corporations with more targeted policy recommendations related to dual-carbon attention and carbon emission reduction., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No conflict of interest exists in the submission of the manuscript, all authors accept that this manuscript is submitted to Journal of Environmental Management. I would like to declare that this paper is our original unpublished work and it has not been submitted to any other journal., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Desert ecosystems, as an important part of terrestrial ecosystems, are considered potential hidden carbon sinks in the global carbon cycle. The Gurbantunggut Desert, as China's largest fixed/semi-fixed desert, has received little research on its role in the global carbon cycle and future trends. This study utilizes continuous observational data from the Gurbantunggut Desert from 2018 to 2022 and integrates CMIP6 global climate model scenario data to study the evolution of carbon balance in the desert ecosystem, carbon source/sink functions, and future trends. The result showed that: 1) The CO 2 flux in the Gurbantunggut Desert shows Carbon sink during the day and carbon source at night, with an annual cumulative carbon sink duration of over 240 days.2)From 2018 to 2020, the desert ecosystem of the Gurbantunggut Desert functioned as a net CO 2 sink.3) Desert ecosystems were subjected to concurrent influences from multiple environmental factors across varying time scales, with photosynthetically active radiation, air temperature, and soil temperature identified as the most influential factors affecting CO 2 flux in the Gurbantunggut Desert. 4) The climate of the Gurbantunggut Desert is projected to exhibit a trend of warming and increased humidity in the future. Against the backdrop of future warming and humidification, the Gurbantunggut desert ecosystem is anticipated to exhibit a pronounced carbon sink characteristic., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Climate change poses significant challenges, making low-carbon development an essential global trend. In this context, building a green brand has become a critical strategy for companies to enhance consumer loyalty and maintain competitiveness. This study explores how the digital economy shapes sports brand loyalty, focusing on a dataset of Chinese A-share listed companies from Shanghai and Shenzhen, spanning 2011 to 2020. The findings suggest that the digital economy can significantly foster sports brand loyalty. In this process, the digital transformation of enterprises plays a mediating role. This effect is more pronounced in southern regions, non-resource cities and regions actively implementing the Broadband China strategy. This highlights the important role of regional and policy factors in amplifying the impact of digitalization. The study highlights that digital transformation not only improves operational efficiency, but also caters to consumers and their preference for innovative and sustainable practices, further cementing brand loyalty. By exploring the specific role of the digital economy for the business of sport, this study provides important insights into the use of digital tools to build green and loyal brands, offers practical insights for companies seeking to combine sustainability with digital strategies, and emphasizes the need to adapt approaches regionally. Embodying the transformative potential of the digital economy to address climate challenges, support low-carbon development and strengthen brand loyalty in the sports sector, this research contributes to the understanding of how businesses can thrive in an era of rapid environmental change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

With climate change and intensified human activities, disasters such as heavy rainfall, flooding, typhoons, and storm surges are becoming more frequent, posing significant threats to lives, property, and economic development. We propose a method combining extreme value theory and probability distribution to examine the flood severity under the effect of strong human activities. By focusing on the Pearl River Delta (PRD), as one of the most populated areas of China, we quantified changes in the severity of extreme water level for different return levels between 1966 and 1990 and 1991-2016 (with strong human activities), associated with the spatial patterns over the PRD. The flood severity decreased near inland areas of the delta but increased in coastal areas. Additionally, in coastal areas, the flood severity of long return levels has increased more significantly than that of short return levels, under the effect of strong anthropogenic activities. This study further examined the spatial heterogeneity in extreme water levels under the influence of human activities over the PRD. This study provides new insights into basin-scale flood responses to human activities and strategies for mitigating flood disasters over the PRD. The proposed method offers a promising approach for evaluating the severity of flooding in regions experiencing hydrological changes similar to those observed in the PRD under the influence of human intervention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Climate change has significantly altered fish population dynamics and marine ecosystems worldwide, resulting in multiple ecological, economic and social risks for sustainable fisheries. As a hotspot of global warming, China is anticipated to face with extensive climate-driven changes in marine fisheries and ecosystems, but a clear and adaptative management strategy has not been established. In this study, we assessed the climate adaptiveness of current fisheries management and alternative strategies with diverse management priorities. Dynamic ecosystem model, Ecosim, was used to quantify the effectiveness of these management options in mitigating ecological, social, and economic risks of climate change, as well as the potential trade-offs. Results showed that under the status quo fisheries management, climate warming would dramatically impair ecosystem structure and function, leading to declines in fishery yields, economic losses in the fishing industry, and potential food security crises. However, these climate-driven risks could be mitigated, or at least minimized, through improved fisheries management. The harvest control rule (HCR) strategy, which responds to climate-induced biomass variations, would be most effective in promoting sustainable fisheries production but limited in offsetting climate-driven economic losses; while multispecies strategies can, in a balanced way, help mitigate climate change impacts on sustainable fishery production, ecosystem health, seafood security, and economic profitability. Furthermore, their capability to offset climate-driven risks would be largely compromised with increasing greenhouse emissions, as no management strategy could sustain current ecological, economic and social levels of fisheries under the high-emission scenario. We emphasize the need to pursue a dual approach that incorporates both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking adaptive fisheries management strategies to realize fisheries potential and ensure ecological and socio-economic resilience. Although the dynamic model cannot incorporate climate-driven spatial variations, the insights and framework from this work can support the identification of climate-resilient management strategies over long-term and provide guidance on achieving climate-ready fisheries in China and other regions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Given the increasing intensity of climate change, members of the public perceive its occurrence and participate in pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) that are expected to alleviate severe climate situations. Related scholarship has paid much attention to how determining factors affect public actions and proven the gaps between pro-environmental behavioural intentions (PEBIs) and PEBs, but little research has focused on strategies to bridge the intention-behaviour gap. Hence, this study explores the influence of climate change perception (CCP) on PEBs and the role of climate literacy (CL) in addressing the gap. We use a conditional process model and a sample of 1,668 residents of the mainland China. Our results reveal that public often have higher intentions to behave more pro-environmentally but rarely convert them into actual behaviours. CCP triggers positive intentions and behaviours towards the environment, and PEBIs partly and significantly mediate the majority effect of CCP on PEBs. The mediating role of individual intention in the process of other factors influencing public behaviour should not be ignored. CL promotes stronger PEBIs and further drives individuals to converse their intentions into behaviours, bridging the intention-behaviour gap. Additionally, we find that if the public fail to perceive climate change, CL alone is ineffective. These findings deepen our understanding of the internal and external factors that drive public participation, thereby providing policymakers with insights for bridging the gap from a literacy perspective., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Wei pan reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. HuCheng reports a relationship with Jiangsu Provincial Federation of Philosophy and Social Sciences. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Global changes have led to alterations in phytoplankton community structure and dynamics in aquatic environments. However, limited information is available on the comprehensive impacts of global changes on phytoplankton communities along river systems affected by anthropogenic activities. This study explores how anthropogenic pressures and climate change affect phytoplankton community transitions and induce harmful algal blooms by employing field surveys and a 40-year historical data analysis along China's Yangtze River source-mainstem-estuary continuum. Results revealed significantly higher phytoplankton density and biodiversity in the mainstem compared to the source and estuary zones. From the river's source to its mainstem and estuary, the dominant phytoplankton community formed a transition pattern (diatoms - chlorophytes - cyanobacteria - diatoms). Similarly, phytoplankton functional groups transitioned from mixed to eutrophic groups, signaling a shift in water quality towards moderate eutrophication, although it has not yet threatened the survival of diverse phytoplankton species. Moreover, compared to climate change, anthropogenic activities have more significantly intensified the urban heat island effect and nutrient inputs, thereby promoting phytoplankton cell density and biodiversity, particularly in the case of eutrophic functional groups. However, since 2003, governmental regulations have slowed the increase in nitrogen and phosphorus transport flux from the source to the estuary, contributing to the stabilization of harmful algal blooms at low levels in the estuary and adjacent waters. Strict control of nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios is essential for preserving biodiversity, mitigating eutrophication, and preventing harmful algal blooms, thereby ensuring ecological balance and protecting water environments along the Yangtze River., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Water-use efficiency (WUE) and carbon-use efficiency (CUE) are critical indicators of ecosystem function and hydrologic processes, reflecting the water-carbon flux exchange rate. Climatic variables, land use and land cover change (LUCC) and water diversion project (WDP) have altered water-carbon cycle; however, their roles in modulating WUE and CUE remain uncertain. To explore these effects, a framework is proposed and Han River basin (HRB) in China is selected as a case study including the data sets from both remote sensing and in situ observations during 2000-2020. The process-based Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System model and a supervised machine learning model are applied to simulate the impacts of climatic variables, LUCC and WDP on WUE and CUE, which are conducted by designing four experiments. We find that no significant WUE and CUE trends attributed to contrasting trends in the dry (October to March) and wet (April to September) seasons. Temperature variations greatly affect WUE and CUE, with WUE decreasing in the wet season and increasing in the dry season due to minimum temperature changes. LUCC has litter impacts on WUE and CUE changes. From 2014 to 2020, the middle route of the South-to-North WDP decreased WUE by 0.22 gCkg -1 H 2 O in the middle-low HRB's wet season, slightly affecting CUE. Seasonal CUE was stable, with the largest decrease of 0.04 in the upper HRB during the wet season. The WDP also increased WUE sensitivities to minimum and maximum temperatures, while CUE sensitivities remained constant. Our case study has proven that the proposed framework is an effective way to understand the roles of climate change and WDP in modulating WUE and CUE., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In recent years, the rapid development of the global economy has led to an increasing impact of the ongoing climate warming phenomenon on the hydrological cycle. In this context, the runoff changes affected by human activities are more severe. This study classifies climate scenarios based on carbon emission levels into "low-carbon" (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5) and "high-carbon" (SSP3-7.0, SSP5-8.5) dual carbon development paths, and analyzes the evolution characteristics of runoff in the Mang River Basin in the near future (2021-2060) and far future (2061-2100) through driving the SWAT model. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The suitability of the SWAT model in the Mang River Basin was confirmed with a high accuracy (R 2  > 0.65, NSE > 0.8), and the parameters ESCO and SOL&#95;AWC were found to have a high sensitivity to runoff. (2) Increased precipitation fluctuation and continuous temperature rise will be the climate change trend in the basin under the dual carbon pathway. It is estimated that by the end of the 21st century, the overall highest temperature will increase by 1.37-5.02 °C, with temperature increases of 0.53-0.63 °C/10a and 0.17-0.38 °C/10a under the "high carbon" and "low carbon" pathways, respectively. Furthermore, the far future precipitation levels are expected to be higher than near future levels across various climate scenarios, with this trend being especially significant under the "low-carbon" pathway. (3) With the influence of climate change, there is a larger increase in runoff volume under the "high-carbon" pathway, with the growth rate of SSP5-8.5 being the fastest at 0.099 m 3 /s·a, resulting in an overall runoff change of 30.65%. On the other hand, the runoff volume under the "low-carbon" pathway shows a slow growth trend, with an increasing rate that accelerates after the mid-21st century. The runoff change rates range from 0.046 to 0.079 m 3 /s·a. (4) Climate change will significantly alter the overall runoff conditions of the basin. With the passage of time and the increase of carbon concentration emission, the impact of temperature on basin runoff will become increasingly stronger. However, precipitation was still the dominant factor leading to changes in runoff. The overall climate environment within the basin will shift towards a warmer and wetter direction. This research will help in the future to adopt appropriate measures for soil and water conservation and ecological protection strategies in ecologically vulnerable areas affected by human activities and located in different geographical basins under the background of climate change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Contemporary climate change is causing spatial redistributions of many species, potentially undermining the effectiveness of existing protected areas (PAs). This raises concerns about whether current PAs are connected enough to capture climate-induced range shifts and how to expand PAs to support this ecological process. Hence, we conducted a national-scale assessment of climate connectivity for the terrestrial PAs across mainland China. We found that most PAs are structurally connected to cool ones through low human impact (LHI) areas along temperature gradients. The connected PA networks could enable species to migrate and avoid an average climate warming of 2.9 °C under moderate emission scenario. Nevertheless, less than half (46.2%) of the PAs have achieved successful climate connectivity. To facilitate climate-induced range shifts, we identified priority areas for conservation based on their importance in supporting connections between PAs. Our study provides spatially explicit assessments of the connectivity of PA networks for range shifts and emphasizes the necessity to consider climate connectivity in the planning of PAs at regional scales., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)