A Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Anthropogenic Drivers of Environmental Impact For 30 Chinese Provinces Across three Regions Between 1997 and 2009

Abstract

Growing evidence has shown substantial threats to China’s environment. After exceeding the United States in 2006, China became the world’s largest CO2 emitter and accounted for 29 percent of global CO2 emissions in 2013. In this paper, I adopt perspectives from environmental sociology and examine the anthropogenic drivers of environmental disruption. I draw on the Impact = Population × Affluence × Technology (IPAT) framework and the Treadmill of Production (TOP) perspective to ground the analyses theoretically. I then analyze data for 30 Chinese provinces both temporally (from 1997 to 2009) and spatially (across the east, central, and west regions). From a temporal perspective, the findings suggest a concomitant growth of CO2 emissions, GDP per capita, and population. From a spatial perspective, Global Information System (GIS) analysis displays the overlapping of high CO2 emissions, GDP per capita, and population in East China in comparison with Central and West China. Through calculating and mapping the statistics, the GIS results can inform the spatial variations of environmental outcomes and complement the results from longitudinal analysis. Overall, the findings confirm the IPAT framework and reinforce the TOP argument. These findings also expand the existing cross-national inquiries about climate change.