scholarly journals The Impact of Air Pollution on Domestic Tourism in China: A Spatial Econometric Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daxin Dong ◽  
Xiaowei Xu ◽  
Hong Yu ◽  
Yanfang Zhao

This study utilizes a spatial econometric model to analyze the impact of air pollution on domestic tourism in China. Based on a panel dataset covering 337 cities from 2004–2013, this study derives the following findings. (1) Air pollution significantly reduces domestic tourist arrivals in the local city. On average, if the concentration of PM 2.5 (particulate matter equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers in width) in one city increases by 1 μ g/m 3 , the number of domestic tourists to the city declines by 0.7%. (2) Air pollution demonstrates significant spatial spillover effects. If the PM 2.5 in other cities simultaneously increases by 1 μ g/m 3 , the number of domestic tourists traveling to the local city rises by 4.1%. (3) The magnitude of the spillover effects of air pollution is larger than the negative direct effects on local cities. This study suggests that enhancing air quality in the local area will effectively promote the domestic tourism industry in the local city. In addition, it is implied that a simultaneous improvement in the air quality in all cities might not lead to an increase in the number of domestic tourist arrivals. Thus, in order to deal with the spillover effects of air pollution on the domestic tourism industry, local governments should make efforts to develop cross-city or cross-region tourism.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daxin Dong ◽  
Xiaowei Xu ◽  
Yat Wong

Prior studies have suggested the existence of a reverse causality relationship between air quality and tourism development: while air quality influences tourism, dynamic segments of the tourism industry (e.g., cruising, airline, foodservice) have impacts on air quality. This reverse causality hinders a precise estimate on the effect of air pollution on tourism development within a conventional econometric framework, since the variable of air pollution is endogenous. This study estimates the impact of air pollution on the inbound tourism industry in China, by controlling for endogeneity based on a regression discontinuity design (RDD). The estimate is derived from a quasi-experiment generated by China’s Huai River Policy, which subsidizes coal for winter heating in northern Chinese cities. By analyzing data from 274 Chinese cities during the period 2009–2012, it is found that air pollution significantly reduces the international inbound tourism: an increase of PM 10 (particulate matter smaller than 10 μ m) by 0.1 mg/m 3 will cause a decline in the tourism receipts-to-local gross domestic product (GDP) ratio by 0.45 percentage points. This study also highlights the importance of controlling for endogeneity, since the detrimental impact of air pollution would otherwise be considerably underestimated. This study further demonstrates that, although air pollution is positively correlated with the average expenditure of each tourist, it substantially depresses the number of inbound tourists. The results imply that air quality could potentially influence inbound tourists’ city destination choices. However, it is interesting to note that travelers in air polluted cities in China tend to spend more money.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Xu ◽  
Meng Tian ◽  
Jie Yang ◽  
Guohu Xu

The severe air pollution in China has imperiled public health and resulted in substantial economic loss. To tackle the unprecedented pollution challenges, China has launched a campaign-based environmental inspection over all regions to impel local governments’ actual pollution abatement. At the same time, with the public’s awakening awareness about environmental protection, the public has also played a particularly vital role in this inspection. Under this circumstance, the study tries to reveal the impact of Environmental Inspection led by the Central Government (EICG) on air quality improvement, and to examine the role of public engagement in their relationship. Specifically, utilizing daily data covering 249 prefecture-level cities in China from 1 June 2015 to 31 May 2018, this study employed multiple regression models and then found that due to the implementation of EICG, the concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 decline by 2.642 μg/m3, 6.088 μg/m3, 1.357 μg/m3 and 1.443 μg/m3, respectively, and the air quality index decreases by 2.4 in total, which implies that EICG can improve the air quality to a great extent. However, the coefficients for major variables change from negative to positive, suggesting that an attenuation effect of EICG on air quality improvement exists in Chinese institutional background. Meanwhile, public engagement is shown to enhance the positive association between EICG and air quality improvement. Additionally, further analysis demonstrates that EICG promotes the improvement in air quality up to three months after the inspection in cities during the heating period, while the positive effect has existed during one month before the inspection in cities during the non-heating period. Additionally, in contrast to the instant effect in cities not specially monitored, there is a lagged effect of EICG in controlling the air pollution in cities specially monitored.


Author(s):  
Xu Ni ◽  
Hongqing Ma

Concerns about China’s air quality, and its impact on the important tourism industry have been on the debate in recent years. This article aims to investigate the potential effect of air pollution on direct economic impact of tourism, using the case of Beijing and Shanghai. The results indicate that air pollution negatively affects China's inbound tourism, resulting in huge loss of tourist arrivals and receipts, and Beijing suffers a greater loss in comparison with Shanghai, its loss in tourist number amounts to 1569,700 persons, equal to CNY 10264.268 million in tourism receipts, and the GDP losses ranges from CNY 20528.536 to 41057.072 across major source countries. This study provides a quantification of the impact helpful to generate a social awareness of air pollution detrimental impacts on inbound tourism and hence the economy.


Author(s):  
Pranjal Kumar ◽  
Ashutosh Mishra

Jharkhand is popular for tribal culture and uniqueness of its inherent natural beauty attributing significantly on Tourism Industry of Jharkhand. There has been visible change and impact on socio-economic factor because of tourist influx in the Jharkhand state. The inherent beauty and nature has made the state popular for tourism. The attraction towards various important tourist spots revolves mostly within the domestic tourism. The paper attempts to ascertain the impact of tourism traits, like economic Development, Cost of living, Infrastructure Development, Socio-Cultural and the Environment affect through primary data collected from the responses of residents of six dominant tourist circuits of Jharkhand. The respondent’s views were ascertained on five point Likert Scale. The data so collected was subjected to analysis for identifying the impact of various tourism traits on the prospects of Jharkhand Tourism.


Author(s):  
Christian Acal ◽  
Ana M. Aguilera ◽  
Annalina Sarra ◽  
Adelia Evangelista ◽  
Tonio Di Battista ◽  
...  

AbstractFaced with novel coronavirus outbreak, the most hard-hit countries adopted a lockdown strategy to contrast the spread of virus. Many studies have already documented that the COVID-19 control actions have resulted in improved air quality locally and around the world. Following these lines of research, we focus on air quality changes in the urban territory of Chieti-Pescara (Central Italy), identified as an area of criticality in terms of air pollution. Concentrations of $$\hbox {NO}_{{2}}$$ NO 2 , $$\hbox {PM}_{{10}}$$ PM 10 , $$\hbox {PM}_{2.5}$$ PM 2.5 and benzene are used to evaluate air pollution changes in this Region. Data were measured by several monitoring stations over two specific periods: from 1st February to 10 th March 2020 (before lockdown period) and from 11st March 2020 to 18 th April 2020 (during lockdown period). The impact of lockdown on air quality is assessed through functional data analysis. Our work makes an important contribution to the analysis of variance for functional data (FANOVA). Specifically, a novel approach based on multivariate functional principal component analysis is introduced to tackle the multivariate FANOVA problem for independent measures, which is reduced to test multivariate homogeneity on the vectors of the most explicative principal components scores. Results of the present study suggest that the level of each pollutant changed during the confinement. Additionally, the differences in the mean functions of all pollutants according to the location and type of monitoring stations (background vs traffic), are ascribable to the $$\hbox {PM}_{{10}}$$ PM 10 and benzene concentrations for pre-lockdown and during-lockdown tenure, respectively. FANOVA has proven to be beneficial to monitoring the evolution of air quality in both periods of time. This can help environmental protection agencies in drawing a more holistic picture of air quality status in the area of interest.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Moderato ◽  
D Lazzeroni ◽  
A Biagi ◽  
T Spezzano ◽  
B Matrone ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death worldwide; it accounts for up to 50% of all cardiovascular deaths.It is well established that ambient air pollution triggers fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events. However, the impact of air pollution on OHCA is still controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of short-term exposure to outdoor air pollutants on the incidence of OHCA in the urban area of Piacenza, Italy, one of the most polluted area in Europe. Methods From 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2017 day-by-day PM10 and PM2.5 levels, as well as climatic data, were extracted from Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA) local monitoring stations. OHCA were extracted from the prospective registry of Community-based automated external defibrillator Cardiac arrest “Progetto Vita”. OHCA data were included: audio recordings, event information and ECG tracings. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between the risk of OHC, expressed as odds ratios (OR), associated with the PM10 and PM2.5 levels. Results Mean PM10 levels were 33±29 μg/m3 and the safety threshold (50 μg/m3) recommended by both WHO and Italian legislation has been exceeded for 535 days (17.5%). Mean PM 5 levels were 33±29 μg/m3. During the follow-up period, 880 OHCA were recorded on 750 days; the remaining 2174 days without OHCA were used as control days. Mean age of OHCA patients was 76±15 years; male gender was prevalent (55% male vs 45% female; <0.001). Concentration of PM10 and PM 2.5 were significantly higher on days with the occurrence of OHCA (PM10 levels: 37.7±22 μg/m3 vs 32.7±19 μg/m3; p<0.001; PM 2.5 levels: 26±16 vs 22±15 p<0.001). Risk of OHCA was significantly increased with the progressive increase of PM10 (OR: 1.009, 95% CI 1.004–1.015; p<0.001) and PM2.5 levels (OR 1.012, 95% CI 1.007–1.017; p<0.001). Interestingly, the above mentioned results remain independent even when correct for external temperature or season (PM 2.5 levels: p=0.01 – PM 10 levels: p=0.002), Moreover, dividing PM10 values in quintiles, a 1.9 fold higher risk of cardiac arrest has been showed in the highest quintile (Highest quintile cut-off: <48μg/m3) Conclusions In large cohort of patients from a high pollution area, both PM10 and PM2.5 levels are associated with the risk of Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. PM10 and PM2.5 levels and risk of OHCA Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Sly ◽  
Brittany A. Trottier ◽  
Catherine M. Bulka ◽  
Stephania A. Cormier ◽  
Julius Fobil ◽  
...  

Abstract Background An unusual feature of SARS-Cov-2 infection and the COVID-19 pandemic is that children are less severely affected than adults. This is especially paradoxical given the epidemiological links between poor air quality and increased COVID-19 severity in adults and that children are generally more vulnerable than adults to the adverse consequences of air pollution. Objectives To identify gaps in knowledge about the factors that protect children from severe SARS-Cov-2 infection even in the face of air pollution, and to develop a transdisciplinary research strategy to address these gaps. Methods An international group of researchers interested in children’s environmental health was invited to identify knowledge gaps and to develop research questions to close these gaps. Discussion Key research questions identified include: what are the effects of SAR-Cov-2 infection during pregnancy on the developing fetus and child; what is the impact of age at infection and genetic susceptibility on disease severity; why do some children with COVID-19 infection develop toxic shock and Kawasaki-like symptoms; what are the impacts of toxic environmental exposures including poor air quality, chemical and metal exposures on innate immunity, especially in the respiratory epithelium; what is the possible role of a “dirty” environment in conveying protection – an example of the “hygiene hypothesis”; and what are the long term health effects of SARS-Cov-2 infection in early life. Conclusion A concerted research effort by a multidisciplinary team of scientists is needed to understand the links between environmental exposures, especially air pollution and COVID-19. We call for specific research funding to encourage basic and clinical research to understand if/why exposure to environmental factors is associated with more severe disease, why children appear to be protected, and how innate immune responses may be involved. Lessons learned about SARS-Cov-2 infection in our children will help us to understand and reduce disease severity in adults, the opposite of the usual scenario.


Author(s):  
Shwet Ketu ◽  
Pramod Kumar Mishra

AbstractIn the last decade, we have seen drastic changes in the air pollution level, which has become a critical environmental issue. It should be handled carefully towards making the solutions for proficient healthcare. Reducing the impact of air pollution on human health is possible only if the data is correctly classified. In numerous classification problems, we are facing the class imbalance issue. Learning from imbalanced data is always a challenging task for researchers, and from time to time, possible solutions have been developed by researchers. In this paper, we are focused on dealing with the imbalanced class distribution in a way that the classification algorithm will not compromise its performance. The proposed algorithm is based on the concept of the adjusting kernel scaling (AKS) method to deal with the multi-class imbalanced dataset. The kernel function's selection has been evaluated with the help of weighting criteria and the chi-square test. All the experimental evaluation has been performed on sensor-based Indian Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) dataset. The proposed algorithm with the highest accuracy of 99.66% wins the race among all the classification algorithms i.e. Adaboost (59.72%), Multi-Layer Perceptron (95.71%), GaussianNB (80.87%), and SVM (96.92). The results of the proposed algorithm are also better than the existing literature methods. It is also clear from these results that our proposed algorithm is efficient for dealing with class imbalance problems along with enhanced performance. Thus, accurate classification of air quality through our proposed algorithm will be useful for improving the existing preventive policies and will also help in enhancing the capabilities of effective emergency response in the worst pollution situation.


Author(s):  
Ruxin Wu ◽  
Piao Hu

Central environmental protection inspections have completed their goal of full coverage of 31 provinces in China, and more than 17,000 officials have been held accountable. The media has evaluated the effectiveness of central environmental protection inspections using the notions of “instant results” and the “miracle drug of environmental governance.” Can this approach effectively promote local environmental governance? This paper takes the treatment effect of central environmental protection inspections on air pollution as an example. Using the method of regression discontinuity, central environmental protection inspections are found to have a positive effect on the air quality index (AQI), but this effect is only short term and unsustainable. Additionally, there are inter-provincial differences. Judging from the research results on sub-contaminants, the treatment effect of central environmental protection inspections on air pollution is mainly reflected in PM10, PM2.5 and CO. Under the current situation in which PM10 and PM2.5 are the main assessment indexes, this phenomenon indicates that due to the political achievements and promotion of local officials and for reasons of accountability, it is more effective for the central government to conduct specific environmental assessments through local governments than to conduct central environmental protection inspections.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 2351
Author(s):  
Łukasz Kuźma ◽  
Krzysztof Struniawski ◽  
Szymon Pogorzelski ◽  
Hanna Bachórzewska-Gajewska ◽  
Sławomir Dobrzycki

(1) Introduction: air pollution is considered to be one of the main risk factors for public health. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), air pollution contributes to the premature deaths of approximately 500,000 citizens of the European Union (EU), including almost 5000 inhabitants of Poland every year. (2) Purpose: to assess the gender differences in the impact of air pollution on the mortality in the population of the city of Bialystok—the capital of the Green Lungs of Poland. (3) Materials and Methods: based on the data from the Central Statistical Office, the number—and causes of death—of Białystok residents in the period 2008–2017 were analyzed. The study utilized the data recorded by the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection station and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management during the analysis period. Time series regression with Poisson distribution was used in statistical analysis. (4) Results: A total of 34,005 deaths had been recorded, in which women accounted for 47.5%. The proportion of cardiovascular-related deaths was 48% (n = 16,370). An increase of SO2 concentration by 1-µg/m3 (relative risk (RR) 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.12; p = 0.005) and a 10 °C decrease of temperature (RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05; p = 0.005) were related to an increase in the number of daily deaths. No gender differences in the impact of air pollution on mortality were observed. In the analysis of the subgroup of cardiovascular deaths, the main pollutant that was found to have an effect on daily mortality was particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5); the RR for 10-µg/m3 increase of PM2.5 was 1.07 (95% CI 1.02–1.12; p = 0.01), and this effect was noted only in the male population. (5) Conclusions: air quality and atmospheric conditions had an impact on the mortality of Bialystok residents. The main air pollutant that influenced the mortality rate was SO2, and there were no gender differences in the impact of this pollutant. In the male population, an increased exposure to PM2.5 concentration was associated with significantly higher cardiovascular mortality. These findings suggest that improving air quality, in particular, even with lower SO2 levels than currently allowed by the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, may benefit public health. Further studies on this topic are needed, but our results bring questions whether the recommendations concerning acceptable concentrations of air pollutants should be stricter, or is there a safe concentration of SO2 in the air at all.


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