Rapid urbanisation has altered the vulnerability of urban areas to heat wave disasters. There is an urgent need to identify the factors underlying the effect of heat waves on human health and the areas that are most vulnerable to heat waves. In this study, we plan to integrate indices associated with heat wave vulnerability based on meteorological observation data, remote sensing data and point of interest (POI) data; analyse the influence of urbanisation on the urban vulnerability environment; and explore the relationship between the vulnerability environment and heat-wave-related mortality. Finally, we attempt to map the spatial distribution of high heat-wave-related mortality risk based on the results of heat wave vulnerability study and artificial society. The results reveal that 1) there are differences in the influence of urbanisation on heat wave exposure, sensitivity and adaptability; 2) the exposure and sensitivity level effects on the lower limit of health impacts and the adaptability level effects on the upper limit of the health impact from heat wave in a given study area; and 3) areas vulnerable to the effects of heat waves are not confined to the city centre, which implies that residents living in suburban areas are also vulnerable to heat waves. Finally, this study not only explores the factors contributing to the impacts of heat waves but also describes the spatial distribution of the risk of disaster-associated mortality, thereby providing direct scientific guidance that can be used by cities to address heat wave disasters in the future.

Heat-induced labor loss is a major economic cost related to climate change. Here, we use hourly heat stress data modeled with a regional climate model to investigate the heat-induced labor loss in 231 Chinese cities. Results indicate that future urban heat stress is projected to cause an increase in labor losses exceeding 0.20% of the total account gross domestic product (GDP) per year by the 2050s relative to the 2010s. In this process, certain lower-paid sectors could be disproportionately impacted. The implementation of various urban adaptation strategies could offset 10% of the additional economic loss per year and help reduce the inequality-related impact on lower-paid sectors. So future urban warming can not only damage cities as a whole but can also contribute to income inequality. The implication of adaptation strategies should be considered in regard to not only cooling requirements but also environmental justice.

Vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni) are considered the most abundant trace metals in ship exhaust burning heavy fuel oils. This study is the first attempt to estimate the impact of V and Ni from shipping on air quality in East Asia for the year 2015. In this study, emission inventories of V and Ni from shipping and land‐based sources were constructed and implemented into the revised aerosol module to simulate ambient V and Ni concentrations. Our results showed that ship emissions contributed the majority of vanadium and were important to nickel emissions in most coastal regions in East Asia, with the contributions exceeding 60% and approximately 40% in some regions, respectively. The simulated ambient V and Ni concentrations has been validated by the measurements, and the comparison revealed there was an obvious improvement (reducing the mean bias by 32%–63%) in the model performance of the V and Ni predictions after including shipping emissions. Our study filled the gaps of trace element contributions in coastal regions and implied that the impact of metals from shipping traffic on regional air quality is worthy of attention in East Asia. Although the International Maritime Organization (IMO) low‐sulfur fuel policy has been implemented since 2020, the impact of shipping traffic on trace metals with respect to regional air quality is still important given heavy fuel oils being in use.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the linkage between rapid urbanization and flood risk in the hinterlands of the Pearl River Delta, P.R. China. Foshan, a typical hinterland city in the Pearl River Delta region, was selected as a case study. Land use and cover change in Foshan during 1988-2003 was analyzed using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Furthermore, analysis on historical hydrological data during 1962-2005 was performed. Results show that rapid urbanization has resulted in losses of farmland, forest and shrub since 1988. In addition, in order to compensate or offset the loss of farmland due to rapid urban expansion, more than 30 % of the forest and 20 % of the shrub areas were transformed into farmlands. Inevitably, both the urban and agricultural lands increased the pressure on the drainage systems. Furthermore, over the past decades human activities such as dredging up the floodways, excavating sand and building water facilities in the rivers, significantly changed the hydrological conditions, and therefore impaired the rivers’ capacity to buffer floods. Lessons from the Foshan case implied that, in addition to natural processes, human activities driven by socio-economic factors should be considered responsible for the recently increasing level of flood risks. Both economically and environmentally, it is irrational and impractical to encourage encroachment of lands vulnerable to floods. It is also realistic and urgent to effectively prevent and control the adverse ecological consequences of urbanization and economic activities for building their wealth and prominence.

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to the eastern China seas has been simulated using the MM5/CMAQ model with the 2004 national emission inventory of China. Dry and wet fluxes are 0.05–0.5 and 0.2–0.6 g m⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively, with the wet deposition accounting for 79% of the total. The total deposition of inorganic nitrogen species, including NO₃⁻, NH₄⁺, HNO₃, NO_x, and NH₃, to the eastern China seas is 498 GgN yr⁻¹ and accounts for 3.4% of the nitrogen emission by China. Deposition of NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ dominates. The model results agree well with available in situ measurements. The deposition of NH₄⁺ and NH₃ to the East China Sea is up to 166 GgN yr⁻¹, which nearly equals the total input of 184 GgN yr⁻¹ from the mainland, including riverine discharge, industrial wastewater, and domestic wastewater. Deposition of atmospheric ammonium can account for 56% of the external total input, which is 1.1–1.5 times the input from the major rivers to all the eastern China seas. Ammonium deposition to the Yellow Sea accounts for as much as 87% of the total input. The annual total nitrogen deposition can be converted to new primary biological productivity of 100–200 mmol C m⁻² yr⁻¹, or 1.1–3.9% of the new productivity in the East China Sea. Our results suggest that atmospheric deposition has important impact on biological productivity in all the eastern China seas.