Air Pollutant Emissions Induced by Population Migration in China

Abstract

Large-scale population migration accompanied by rapid urbanization is expected to cause the spatial relocation of air pollution because of heterogeneous energy use and consumption preferences of rural versus urban areas in China. In this study, we adopted an integrated approach by combining a population migration model and environmentally extended input−output analysis to quantify impacts of rural-to-urban (RU) and urbanto-urban (UU) migrations on emissions of NO x , SO 2 , and primary PM 2.5 in China. Results indicate that population migration increases NO x (1.42 Mt), SO 2 (1.30 Mt), and primary PM 2.5 (0.05 Mt) emissions, accounting respectively for 5.4, 4.8, and 0.4% of China's total in 2012. RU migration, involving 54% of the migrating population, significantly increases NO x and SO 2 emissions because of high urban indirect per-capita emissions from consumption and investment. RU migration influences negligibly primary PM 2.5 emissions reflecting the small rural−urban difference in per-capita emissions. Interestingly, UU migration, mostly from inland to coastal provinces, leads to a slight emission decrease for the three pollutants, attributable to the greener development in coastal cities. A significant emission growth can be traced back to heavy and utility industries, suggesting that future emission control of these sectors should reduce the exposure to air pollution of the growing urban population.

How Does an Environmental Amenity Attract Voluntary Migrants? Evidence from Ambient Air Quality in China

“…Third, we address the potential endogeneity concern due to measurement error by using air quality information as a proxy for environmental quality and counting the seriously polluted days in a province, which is likely to minimize the spatial and geographical heterogeneities of collected air pollution levels within a region. Finally, to address the potential reverse causality that air pollution levels can be affected by population density [19][20][21], we focus on environmental migration from polluted areas to areas with better air quality. This approach to reverse causality considers that a lower population density results in higher levels of air pollution, which is highly unlikely in practice.…”

Is Urban Greening an Effective Solution to Enhance Environmental Comfort and Improve Air Quality?

“…Meteorological factors, such as the urban heat island (UHI) effect, are also closely related to ozone formation and further contribute to the difficulty in ozone control in urban areas. , The mechanisms and intensities of the chemical reactions involved in ozone formation may vary significantly across different climate zones and are influenced by specific emission scenarios . Research on different urban areas around the world has indicated that ozone concentrations in cities are more sensitive to changes in precursor emissions and that the impact of urbanization can also change the sensitivity of ozone to precursors, thus further increasing the difficulty involved in ozone control in urban areas …”

Spatio-Temporal Impact of Global Migration on Carbon Transfers Based on Complex Network and Stepwise Regression Analysis

“…Methodologically, current state-of-the-art estimates of migration effect on environment system has realized that it is necessary to study such issues by systematic methods. For instance, Shi et al, (2020) adopted an integrated approach by combining a migration model and input-output analysis to quantify impacts of migrations on emissions of NOx, SO 2 , and primary PM2.5 [24]. Considering climate change impacts, Benveniste et al, (2020) additionally, included that moving populations change their level of exposure and vulnerability by using the integrated assessment models [25].…”