Accumulated evidence reminds one that abrupt transitions between dry and wet spells, though attracting less attention, have harmful influences upon global continents as extensively investigated droughts and floods. This study attempts to incorporate dryness–wetness transitions into the current hazard assessment framework through bivariate frequency analysis and causal attribution from a teleconnection perspective. In the study, regional dry and wet conditions are monitored using the multivariate standardized drought index (MSDI) which facilitates the integrated evaluation of water deficits/surplus from a combined viewpoint of precipitation (largely denoting the received atmospheric water) and runoff (representing an important source of surface water). On such a basis, a copula-based method is subsequently utilized to calculate joint return periods of dryness–wetness combinations in three (i.e., moderate, severe and extreme) severity scenarios. The changing frequency of diverse dryness–wetness combinations is also estimated under a changing climate using a 25-year time window. Furthermore, the cross-wavelet transform is applied to attribute variations in dry and wet conditions to large-scale climate indices, which benefits the early warning of dryness–wetness combinations by providing predictive information. A case study conducted during 1952–2010 in the Huai River basin (HRB)—a typical climatic transition zone in China—shows that the HRB is subject to prolonged dryness with the highest frequency, followed by the abrupt transition from dryness to wetness. Spatially, abrupt dryness–wetness transitions are more likely to occur in the southern and central parts of the HRB than in the rest of the proportion. The past half-century has witnessed the dominantly higher frequency of occurrence of dryness–wetness combinations under three severity scenarios. In particular, the occurrence of the continued dry/wetness escalates more rapidly than transition events under climate change. Moreover, a preliminary attribution analysis discloses the link of the dry and wet conditions in the HRB with climate indices, such as the El Niño southern oscillation, the Pacific decadal oscillation and the Arctic oscillation, as well as sunspot activities. The results of the study enrich the current atlas of water-related hazards, which may benefit more effective hazard mitigation and adaptation.
The public health issue of illegal waste cooking oil in China had become a well-known food safety problem since 2010, resulting in indigestion and stomach aches when they ate them unconsciously. The Chinese government has promulgated relevant food safety regulations to prevent this public health issue from worsening. Meanwhile, Chinese researchers have already conducted corresponding research and recommended several associated policy implementations; however, this illegal waste cooking oil issue persists more than 10 years later. Hence, a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the determinants and management of the waste cooking oil issue is needed to be reassessed. Unlike previous research based on first-hand data and the principles of grounded theory analysis, this novel research is the first attempt to employ second-hand data from 152 court judgments collected from the China Judgments Online official database by engaging the grounded theory analysis to develop a new theoretical framework. The results demonstrate that legal loopholes, food hygiene inspectors, and consumer self-protection consciousness are the three crucial determinant factors in this China's public health issue. As well, offender crime patterns and case characteristics play an essential role in leading to the final food safety. Furthermore, the demographic profiles of these public health criminals are also validated in the discussion part, including the criminals' age, educational background, the average judgment amount, and the sentencing span specific type of crime. Based on the findings, we propose three management guidelines for Chinese legislation: redefining the waste cooking oil issue, raising the hot pot restaurant sanitation permission threshold, and improving overall food safety awareness and education in communities. Importantly, our research outcomes could provide a new theoretical basis for China's waste cooking oil and other public health issues in China and even worldwide.
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