Xiaohui Yang’s research while affiliated with China University of Geosciences and other places

Water and energy are mutually reinforcing elements in production and consumption activities, forming an inseparable relationship. This study, conducted at the provincial level, investigates the intricate connections between energy water footprint flow, water shortage, and water pollution. It aims to elucidate the vulnerability of provincial energy sectors to water use, fostering regional coordinated management for sustainable energy and water development. Utilizing a multi-regional input–output model, the research analyzes both the quantity and quality of water resources. The water footprint of China’s provincial energy sector is quantified and scrutinized. Furthermore, an evaluation index system is constructed based on the water footprint concept. The entropy weight TOPSIS method is then applied to assess the vulnerability of inter-provincial energy sector water footprints. The key findings are as follows: (1) The energy water footprint has shifted from water resource-deficient areas, such as the northwest, North China, and northeast, to economically developed regions with relatively abundant water resources, such as East China and South China. This reveals that the transfer of water footprints in economic activities does not entirely alleviate water shortages in China and may even exacerbate shortages in certain water-deficient areas. (2) The graywater footprint of the energy sector is significantly larger than the blue water footprint and water shortage footprint. (3) The production and supply departments of power and heat emerge as the largest contributors to the transfer of energy and water footprints from water shortage areas to water-rich areas, followed by coal mining and dressing departments. (4) Top 10 Vulnerable Provinces: Tibet, Zhejiang, Ningxia, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Henan, Hunan, Beijing, Chongqing, and Hebei are identified as the top 10 provinces vulnerable to water footprints in the energy sector. This vulnerability closely correlates with the energy sector’s dependence on water footprints and production leverage. Recommendations include optimizing the energy mix and establishing stable external water footprint supply channels for provinces with high water footprint dependence. Provinces with high production leverage are advised to accelerate innovation and application of water-saving technologies in key energy sectors, increase the utilization of clean energy, and enhance resource recycling. National government departments should focus on controlling and reducing water pollutants in the energy sector across regions, addressing water shortages by purifying water bodies and improving water quality.

China is an extremely sensitive nation severely impacted by global climate change, with frequent floods in the Yangtze River Economic Zone causing severe socioeconomic losses and ecological and environmental issues. To investigate the potential industry-related economic losses and comprehensive hazards of flooding in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, as well as to investigate the comprehensive improvement of disaster resilience, this paper first uses an input–output model to account for the indirect economic losses caused by floods to various industries in different years. On this basis, a comprehensive flood risk assessment system was constructed from five aspects, including meteorological and geographical conditions, exposure, vulnerability, emergency response and recovery capacity, and disaster losses; the entropy weight method and TOPSIS method were used to rank the flood risks, while ArcGIS was used for visualization and analysis. The results indicate that the most severe economic losses affected by floods in 2020, 2017 and 2012 are in Anhui, Hunan and Sichuan, respectively; manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, transportation and storage, and electricity, heat and production and supply are all highly sensitive sectors that are severely impacted by flooding. The risk assessment indicates that the integrated flood risk in the upstream areas of Yunnan and Chongqing has been low and belongs to the low or medium–low risk area, whereas the integrated flood risk in the downstream areas is high, with Shanghai belonging to the high risk area in each of the three years. Lastly, effective regional flood risk management countermeasures are proposed.

Haze pollution poses a serious threat to residents’ health. In this study, a spatial econometric model of environmental health was established to investigate the direction, intensity, and spatial–temporal heterogeneity of the impact of haze pollution and its spillover effects on public health in 26 cities of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomerations from 2005 to 2018. The study found that (1) PM2.5 pollution and public health level all show the characteristic of positive spatial correlation and spatial clustering. (2) Haze pollution is the main influencing factor of residents’ public health level, with significant negative effects and obvious spillover effects. The urbanization rate, the number of health technicians, and the green area per capita have significant positive impacts on public health. (3) The spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the impact of haze pollution and other factors on public health is obvious. The negative correlation between PM2.5 pollution and public health in eastern cities is higher than that in other cities. Both urbanization rate and green area per capita have a greater positive impact on public health in the northeast of the Yangtze River Delta region. The improvement effect of the number of health technicians on the public health is stronger in the cities of Anhui Province. The research results of this paper provide certain support for the city governments to formulate targeted policies.