The Impact of Climate Change on Mortality in the Russian Cities
EKONOMIKA REGIONA-ECONOMY OF REGION
Authors: Kislyak, N., V; Lukyanov, S. A.; Ruzhanskaya, L. S.; Fokeev, M. A.
Abstract
The article assesses the economic consequences of rising mortality of the population suffering with cardiovascular, coronary and respiratory diseases in the Russian cities with extreme temperatures for the period from 1997 to 2017. The data on the temperature on the earth's surface was collected daily from 1121 weather stations located in the cities with a population over 50,000 people. During the considered period, the number of extremely hot days has increased in 6 regions of the Russian Federation. Moreover, a steady trend towards climate warming has been revealed in 7 Northern regions. On average, in the span of 21 years, Russia had 21 days with extreme temperatures per year. For assessing the effect of extreme temperatures on mortality of the working-age population with selected groups of diseases, we used a panel data model with fixed effects. We have discovered that mortality statistically significantly depends on both low and high temperatures. However, high temperatures impact mortality more than cold temperatures. We have assessed economic losses from mortality of the working-age population as the sum of the regional products' indicators for the considered period, weighted by the rate of labour force participation and the average number of deaths in the selected population groups. According to average assessments, in the period from 2000 to 2016, for 82 subjects of the Russian Federation the losses amounted to 0.6 % - 0.7 % of Gross Regional Product (GRP) annually. The obtained quantitative assessments can be used in designing the regional development strategies and concepts of smart cities in order to improve the quality of life of citizens.
Industrial water pollution and transboundary eco-compensation: analyzing the case of Songhua River Basin, China
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
Authors: Li, Wanhong; Liu, Fang; Wang, Fan; Ding, Maiqi; Liu, Tiansen
Abstract
As eco-compensation is considered an effective economic instrument for controlling the industrial water pollution in transboundary basin, this study aims to explore a transboundary eco-compensation mechanism for Songhua River Basin that is one of the seven major drainage basins in China. Using a panel dataset of eleven cities in this basin tracked from 1992 to 2016, we empirically examined the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by analyzing the relationship between economic development and industrial water pollution. Then, we developed two econometric models to quantify the wastewater discharge allowance and eco-compensation of investigated cities, respectively. The results specifically reveal the inverted U-curve effects of GRP (gross regional product) on industrial wastewater discharge, which displays an evidence of EKC in the field of transboundary water pollution in China. Moreover, our results verify the polluter pays principle that polluter should be responsible for its pollution behavior through paying of eco-compensation. Our results further interpret that the emissions trading program can help protect the ecosystem by allowing the wastewater discharge allowance to trading market.