Comprehensive Analysis of Nitrogen Deposition in Urban Ecosystem: A Case Study of Xiamen City, China

Quantitative assessment of the response of seawater environmental quality to marine protection policies under regional economic development --A case study of Xiamen Bay, China

Xiamen is the epitome of having steady economic growth and non-negligible environmental stress over decades. Several restoration programs have been applied to address the conflicts between heavy environmental pressures and human activities, but the response of current coastal protection policies to the marine environment remains to be assessed. Therefore, to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of marine conservation policies under regional economic growth in Xiamen, quantitative techniques including elasticity analysis and dummy variable regression models were applied. Here we show the potential relationship between seawater quality (pH, COD, DIN and DRP) and economic growth including Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Ocean Product (GOP), to evaluate the ongoing related policies by using over 10 years of data (2007-2018). According to our estimates, a GDP growth rate of 8.5% represents a stable economic climate that is favorable for the overall rehabilitation of the local coastal environment. The results of the quantitative research indicate a strong relationship between economic development and seawater quality, with marine protection regulations serving as the direct cause. As GDP growth and pH are significantly positively correlated (coef. = 0.8139, p = 0.012), ocean acidification has decreased over the last decade. With an inversely proportional correlation with GDP (coef. = 0.8456, p = 0.002) and GOP (coef. = 0.8046, p = 0.005), the trend in COD concentrations effectively meets the targets of current pollution control legislation. By using a dummy variable regression model, we found that legislation is the most effective way in seawater recovery in the GOP section, and positive externalities of marine protection frameworks are also estimated. Meanwhile, it is predicted that the negative effects from the non-GOP section will gradually affect the coastal environmental quality gradually. An overall framework for controlling marine pollutant discharges, giving equal attention to maritime and non-maritime anthropogenic activities should be promoted and updated.

Comprehensive evaluation of water ecological environment in watersheds: a case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

The Yangtze River Economic Belt, an inland economic zone with global influence, has shown a trend of prosperous economic development in recent years. Economic development, water pollution, resource depletion, and other environmental problems continue to emerge. The steady state of the water ecological environment is an important aspect of ecological security. To investigate the regional water ecological security state, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation indicator system within the framework of "driving force-carrying source-state-management" (DCSM). The entropy weight method was used to determine the weight of each indicator, and the weighted rank sum ratio model was introduced to classify the water ecological environment of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2010 to 2019. Finally, an adversarial interpretative structure model is used to refine the ranking of each region. The results show that the bearing state and driving force subsystems are closely related to the water ecological environment. The top three indicators are wastewater discharge of industrial added value of 10,000 yuan, water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial gross product, and water consumption per 10,000 yuan of tertiary gross domestic product. In addition, there are clear differences in the water ecological environment of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The classification results show that Zhejiang and Jiangsu are rated as "excellent''; Yunnan, Guizhou, Anhui, and Jiangxi are in the "good" level; and Sichuan, Hunan, Chongqing, and Hubei are in the "medium" level. Shanghai is "poor." As a whole, the downstream is superior, the upstream is second, and the midstream is poor in an asymmetric "U"-shaped distribution. During the study period, the overall state of water ecology in the Yangtze River Economic Belt was at a medium level and has not yet reached a safe and steady state. The performance of areas with traditional industrialization as the main development path was poor. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the overall water ecological security in the basin in the future, strengthen the regulatory role of the government's water ecological management, promote reform of traditional industries and resource-based regions, and achieve the sustainable development of the water ecological environment.

Study on Comprehensive Assessment of Environmental Impact of Air Pollution

Pollutants discharged from irrational energy consumption pose a serious threat to urban ecological security. The Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone is an important part of China’s coastal economy. With the rapid development of the economy in this area, the atmospheric environmental pollution problem, caused by energy consumption, has become increasingly serious. Therefore, the study of the environmental impact assessment of air pollution in the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone has reference value to prevent ecological risks. This paper constructed a regional-scale environmental impact assessment model that includes pollution sources, pollution stress, and evaluation results, and evaluated the environmental impact of SO2, NO2, CO, PM10, and PM2.5 from three perspectives: regional integration, different energy consumption sectors, and different cities. The results showed that the regional environmental impact level of the research area was high, and the main pollutants transformed from SO2 to NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 from 2008 to 2016. According to the results of different sectors, the transportation sector contributes the most to NO2 and remains unchanged, and the industrial sector contributes the most to SO2, PM10, and PM2.5. Combined with the research results of different cities, cities concentrated in the coastal areas contribute more pollution than other cities do.