Contribution of soil erosion to PAHs in surface water in China.

In China, the total annual atmospheric emission of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) reach up to approximate 100 thousand tons, part of which is preserved in soils. In this study, the contribution of soil erosion to PAHs in surface water nationwide was quantified. The results indicate that a major portion of the annual PAHs emission is lost from soils via rainfall erosivity and subsequently transported to the ocean. The national annual flux of PAHs from soil to surface water by the natural physical forces of water measures up to ~70 thousand tons, which accounts for ~62% of the annual emission of PAHs with 19% entering the sea directly. In general, both the soil erosion intensity and flux of PAHs for the regions located in the Southeast of China are over those in the Northwest of China, with the regions being divided into two different parts by the famous geographic "Hu Huanyong line", reflecting the intensive impact of human activities on environmental degradation. Comparative analysis suggested that there must be a big fraction of PAHs lost during transmission due to the river sedimentation and lake dispersion. This study closes a major gap in the national budget of PAHs and provides critical information in the context of regional environment risk assessment.

Environmental benefits of electronic commerce over the conventional retail trade? A case study in Shenzhen, China.

Electronic commerce has been becoming the new driver of the retail industry. The large-scale expansion of electronic commerce with additional packaging certainly increases stress on the environment. However, a comparative analysis of environmental impacts of electronic commerce and conventional retail trade channels is unavailable. In this study, an Average Package Difference Model (APDM) was developed to evaluate CO2 emissions difference via the two retail channels in Shenzhen, China based on a life-cycle perspective. In the meanwhile, the national emission was estimated by the above results. Our results suggest that conventional retail has a higher environmental cost than that of electronic commerce, especially during shopping trips. Specifically, average CO2 emission difference per package in terms of product returns, packaging, buildings and transportation were 0.14 ±â€¯0.03, 0.84 ±â€¯0.08, 0.67 ±â€¯0.04, 1.3 ±â€¯0.26 kg, respectively. CO2 is mainly emitted from buildings and consumer trips in conventional retail trade, whereas packaging is mainly responsible for CO2 emission in e-commerce. In China, the total CO2 emission difference between conventional retail and electronic commerce was 124 million tons in 2016. Growth of the proportion of electronic commerce will contribute to lower CO2 emissions induced by the entire retail industry. Actually, carbon emissions can be reduced in both conventional retail and electronic commerce, such as the reusable packaging, opening shopping centers in dense population zones and promoting the usage of public transportation.

Data on the distribution of physical activities in the Shenzhen greenway network with volunteered geographic information.

This data presents the distribution of physical activities in the Shenzhen greenway network (GN) in January, April and July, 2014. The volunteered geographic on physical activity is overlaid with the greenways data, to describe the distribution of physical activities in the greenways. The data are summarized to show the distribution characteristics geographically from different aspects in Shenzhen, China. Data were used to explore the effect of the Shenzhen GN on supporting physical activities, "Where do networks really work? The effects of Shenzhen greenway network on supporting physical activities" (Liu et al., 2016) [2].