About the Journal
In Memory of Professor Jerzy Radecki
Ownership and Management Statement
Editorial Office
Editorial Board
Scope
Impact Factor
Indexed by
Journal Impact Factor contributing items
Publication Frequency
Revenue Sources & Business Model
Contact
Subscription
Current issue
Online first
Instructions for Authors
Copyright & Licensing
Publication Fees
Editorial policies
Publication Policy Overview
Peer Review Policy
Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Open Access Policy
Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Advertising Policy
Direct Marketing & Manuscript Solicitation
Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy
CrossMark, Correction, and Retraction Policy
Archive
Publication Fees
Copyright & Licensing
Editorial policies
Publication Policy Overview
Peer Review Policy
Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Open Access Policy
Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Advertising Policy
Direct Marketing & Manuscript Solicitation
Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy
CrossMark, Correction, and Retraction Policy
eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Climate Extremes Increase Air Pollution in China
1
School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
2
Institute of Western China Economic Research, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics,
Chengdu, 611130, China
Submission date: 2025-05-02
Final revision date: 2025-07-18
Acceptance date: 2025-08-23
Online publication date: 2025-11-12
Corresponding author
Daxin Dong
Institute of Western China Economic Research, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 611130, China
Institute of Western China Economic Research, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 611130, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Existing research has shown that both climate extremes and air pollution have adverse impacts
on human health and the economy. It is worth noting that climate extremes and air pollution are not
independent of each other. The complex relationship between the two needs more research. In this
study, the impacts of climate extremes (extreme low temperature, extreme high temperature, extreme
rainfall, and extreme drought) on ambient air pollution are assessed ex post using a multiple regression
analysis. Based on data from 223 Chinese cities between 2007 and 2020, our analysis generates three
findings. (1) Climate extremes lead to poorer air quality by significantly increasing the concentrations
of black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), organic carbon (OC), particulate matter less
than 1 micron in size (PM1), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), particulate matter less than 10 microns in
size (PM10), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). (2) Mechanism analyses suggest that climate extremes increase
energy consumption and depress green innovation, which provides explanations for the deterioration
of air pollution. (3) Although the effects of different types of climate extremes on air quality vary,
in general, it is confirmed that all four types of climate extremes worsen air quality.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
REFERENCES (38)
1.
SCHNELL J.L., PRATHER M.J. Co-occurrence of extremes in surface ozone, particulate matter, and temperature over eastern North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114 (11), 2854, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1....
2.
MARCANTONIO R., JAVELINE D., FIELD S., FUENTES A. Global distribution and coincidence of pollution, climate impacts, and health risk in the Anthropocene. PLoS One. 16 (7), e0254060, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journa....
3.
BORCK R., SCHRAUTH P. Population density and urban air quality. Regional Science and Urban Economics. 86, 103596, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regs....
4.
HOU Y., WANG Q., TAN T. Evaluating drivers of PM2.5 air pollution at urban scales using interpretable machine learning. Waste Management. 192, 114, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasm....
5.
HIEN P.D., MEN N.T., TAN P.M., HANGARTNER M. Impact of urban expansion on the air pollution landscape: A case study of Hanoi, Vietnam. Science of the Total Environment. 702, 134635, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit....
6.
KIM M.J., CHANG Y.S., KIM S.M. Impact of income, density, and population size on PM2.5 pollutions: A scaling analysis of 254 large cities in six developed countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18 (17), 9019, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph....
7.
ZHAO H., LIU Y., GU T., ZHENG H., WANG Z., YANG D. Identifying spatiotemporal heterogeneity of PM2.5 concentrations and the key influencing factors in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Remote Sensing. 14 (11), 2643, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs1411....
8.
CARRIÓN-FLORES C.E., INNES R. Environmental innovation and environmental performance. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 59 (1), 27, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem....
9.
DU S., HE C., ZHANG L., ZHAO Y., CHU L., NI J. Policy implications for synergistic management of PM2.5 and O3 pollution from a pattern-process-sustainability perspective in China. Science of the Total Environment. 916, 170210, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit....
10.
BALCH J.K., IGLESIAS V., BRASWELL A.E., ROSSI M.W., JOSEPH M.B., MAHOOD A.L., SHRUM T.R., WHITE C.T., SCHOLL V.M., MCGUIRE B., KARBAN C., BUCKLAND M., TRAVIS W.R. Social-environmental extremes: Rethinking extraordinary events as outcomes of interacting biophysical and social systems. Earth's Future. 8 (7), e2019EF001319, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EF....
11.
XIE Y., ZHOU Z., SUN Q., ZHAO M., PU J., LI Q., SUN Y., DAI H., LI T. Social-economic transitions and vulnerability to extreme temperature events from 1960 to 2020 in Chinese cities. iScience. 27 (3), 109066, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci....
12.
SHINDELL D., SMITH C.J. Climate and air-quality benefits of a realistic phase-out of fossil fuels. Nature. 573, 408, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586....
13.
WEST J.J., SMITH S.J., SILVA R.A., NAIK V., ZHANG Y., ADELMAN Z., FRY M.M., ANENBERG S., HOROWITZ W., LAMARQUE J. Co-benefits of mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions for future air quality and human health. Nature Climate Change. 3, 885, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclima....
14.
KINNEY P.L. Interactions of climate change, air pollution, and human health. Current Environmental Health Reports. 5, 179, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572....
15.
GONÇALVES A.C.R., COSTOVA X., NIETO R., LIBERATO M.L.R. Extreme weather events on energy systems: A comprehensive review on impacts, mitigation, and adaptation measures. Sustainable Energy Research. 11, 4, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40807....
16.
JIANG L., YANG Y., WU Q., YANG L., YANG Z. Hotter days, dirtier air: The impact of extreme heat on energy and pollution intensity in China. Energy Economics. 130, 107291, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enec....
17.
PERERA A.T.D., NIK V.M., CHEN D., SCARTEZZINI J., HONG T. Quantifying the impacts of climate change and extreme climate events on energy systems. Nature Energy. 5, 150, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560....
18.
CHINA METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION. China Climate Bulletin 2024. Available at: https://www.cma.gov.cn/2011xwz.... Accessed on 7 March 2025, 2025 [In Chinese].
19.
MINISTRY OF ECOLOCY AND ENVIRONMENT OF CHINA. Ministry of Ecology and Environment announces national ambient air quality conditions for December and January-December 2024. Available at: https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywdt/xw.... Accessed on: 7 March 2025, 2025 [In Chinese].
20.
GUO K., JI Q., ZHANG D. A dataset to measure global climate physical risk. Data in Brief. 54, 110502, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.....
21.
WEI J., LI Z., GUO J., SUN L., HUANG W., XUE W., FAN T., CRIBB M. Satellite-derived 1-km-resolution PM1 concentrations from 2014 to 2018 across China. Environmental Science & Technology. 53 (22), 13265, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.es....
22.
WEI J., LI Z., XUE W., SUN L., FAN T., LIU L., SU T., CRIBB M. The ChinaHighPM10 dataset: generation, validation, and spatiotemporal variations from 2015 to 2019 across China. Environment International. 146, 106290, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envi....
23.
WEI J., LI Z., LI K., DICKERSON R., PINKER R., WANG J., LIU X., SUN L., XUE W., GRIBB M. Full-coverage mapping and spatiotemporal variations of ground-level ozone (O3) pollution from 2013 to 2020 across China. Remote Sensing of Environment. 270, 112775, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.....
24.
WEI J., LI Z., WANG J., LI C., GUPTA P., CRIBB M. Ground-level gaseous pollutants (NO2, SO2, and CO) in China: daily seamless mapping and spatiotemporal variations. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 23, 1511, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23....
25.
DONG X., WANG C., ZHANG F., ZHANG H., XIA C. China's low-carbon policy intensity dataset from national to prefecture-level over 2007-2022. Scientific Data. 11, 213, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597....
26.
YANG G., ZHANG G., CAO D., GAO X., WANG X., YANG S., JIANG P., ZHA D., SHAN Y. A comprehensive city-level final energy consumption dataset including renewable energy for China, 2005-2021. Scientific Data. 11, 738, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597....
27.
MATERIA S., GARCÍA L.P., VAN STRAATEN C., O S., MAMALAKIS A., CAVICCHIA L., COUMOU D., DE LUCA P., KRETSCHMER M., DONAT M. Artificial intelligence for climate prediction of extremes: State of the art, challenges, and future perspectives. WIREs Climate Change. 15 (6), e914, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.91....
28.
GUO L., FANG M., LIU L., CHONG H., ZENG W., HU X. The development of disaster preparedness education for public: A scoping review. BMC Public Health. 25, 645, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889....
29.
RYAN B., JOHNSTON K.A., TAYLOR M., MCANDREW R. Community engagement for disaster preparedness: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 49, 101655, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdr....
30.
GIRÓN A. China's global energy projects and finance. Journal of Economic Issues. 59 (2), 550, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/002136....
31.
ROY J., GHOSH D., GHOSH A., DASGUPTA S. Fiscal instruments: Crucial role in financing low carbon transition in energy systems. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 5 (2), 261, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosu....
32.
ZHANG Y., ZAHOOR Z. The role of energy subsidies, savings, and transitions in driving energy transformations toward net-zero emissions. Energy. 320, 135209, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ener....
33.
FU B., LIU Y., MEADOWS M.E. Ecological restoration for sustainable development in China. National Science Review. 10 (7), nwad033, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nw....
34.
ZHANG Y., ZHAO X., GONG J., LUO F., PAN Y. Effectiveness and driving mechanism of ecological restoration efforts in China from 2009 to 2019. Science of the Total Environment. 910, 168676, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit....
35.
ATTÍLIO L.A. Spillover effects of climate policy uncertainty on green innovation. Journal of Environmental Management. 375, 124334, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv....
36.
NIU S., ZHANG J., LUO R., FENG Y. How does climate policy uncertainty affect green technology innovation at the corporate level? New evidence from China. Environmental Research. 237, 117003, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envr....
37.
YANG K., CHEN G., CHEN R. The dark side of climate policy uncertainty: Hindering energy transition by shaping environmental taxes effectiveness. Journal of Environmental Management. 369, 122314, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv....
38.
WANG J., LIU Y., WANG W., WU H. Does artificial intelligence improve enterprise carbon emission performance? Evidence from an intelligent transformation policy in China. Technology in Society. 79, 102751, 2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tech....
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
