Inequality in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions intensity has risen in rural China from 1993 to 2020.

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in crop production while ensuring emission equity is crucial for sustainable agriculture in China, yet long-term large-scale data on GHG emissions intensity (GEI) are limited. Using an extensive dataset based on surveyed farm households (n > 430,000 households) from 1993 to 2020, we reveal that 2015 was a turning point for GEI levels, which dropped 16% in 2020, while inequality-measured as average GHG emissions per unit planted area-increased 13%. The key driving forces behind such trends included farmland input, all other inputs, agricultural labour input and total factor productivity but not capital input.

Coupling of crop and livestock production can reduce the agricultural GHG emission from smallholder farms.

Ensuring global food security and environmental sustainability is dependent upon the contribution of the world's hundred million smallholder farms, but the contributions of smallholder farms to global agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been understudied. We developed a localized agricultural life cycle assessment (LCA) database to calculate GHG emissions and made the first extensive assessment of the smallholder farms' GHG emission reduction potentials by coupling crop and livestock production (CCLP), a redesign of current practices toward sustainable agriculture in China. CCLP can reduce the GHG emission intensity by 17.

Untangling interactions and prioritizations among Sustainable Development Goals in the Asian Water Tower region.

Understanding the interactions among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is critical for prioritizing SDGs and accelerating the overall SDGs progress. However, SDG interactions and prioritizations at the regional scale have rarely been researched (e.g.

Threats of COVID-19 arouse public awareness of climate change risks.

Public climate change awareness is indispensable to dealing with climate change threats. Understanding whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on individuals' climate change risk perception would thus be critical to green economic recovery. We conducted a longitudinal survey study in China when the pandemic was at its height and when it was mitigated.

Heterogeneous Effects of Skill Training on Rural Livelihoods around Four Biosphere Reserves in China.

The growing contradiction between protection and livelihood is a common challenge for most protected areas in developing countries. Skill training is an important way to increase household income and alleviate the dilemma between conservation and development. However, its effects on household income around protected areas have rarely been explored.

Effects of conservation measures on crop diversity and their implications for climate-resilient livelihoods: the case of Rupa Lake Watershed in Nepal.

Agrobiodiversity conservation is vital for achieving sustainability, but empirical studies on the effects of different practices or measures on crop diversity are rare. This study aims to estimate the effects of raising conservation awareness (RCA), building diversity blocks (BDB), and their combination on crop diversity among 240 randomly selected households surrounding the Rupa Lake Watershed in Nepal. Based on descriptive analysis and multiple regression models, the results indicate that the two single measures had no significant effect on the numbers of crop species and varieties grown by households in 2018.

Is mulch film itself the primary source of meso- and microplastics in the mulching cultivated soil? A preliminary field study with econometric methods.

There has been an increasing interest in the pollution caused by meso- and microplastics (MMPs) in terrestrial ecosystems. Mulch film was once considered to be the most important source of MMPs in the mulching cultivated soil. However, the academic community has not given sufficient scientific evidence.

Gender-Related Beliefs, Norms, and the Link With Green Consumption.

Although extant literature provided abundant evidence that men and women are different in their environmental behaviors, there is a lack of integration of gender differences in green consumption and the underlying mechanism that associates with these disparities. Therefore, to solve this existing gap, the current paper reviewed existing literature on green consumption with threefold purposes. First, presenting an integrated view of gender-different green consumption patterns along with the relationship of gender-related beliefs and individuals' pro-environmental behavior based on existing evidence.

Correction: More than just a mental stressor: psychological value of social distancing in COVID-19 mitigation through increased risk perception-a preliminary study in China.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00774-1.].

More than just a mental stressor: psychological value of social distancing in COVID-19 mitigation through increased risk perception-a preliminary study in China.

Social distancing is an effective measure to prevent epidemic infections during a pandemic outbreak, but its psychological value in COVID-19 pandemic mitigation remained less detected. Our study fills this gap by conducting a nationwide survey in China between 12 and 25 February (2020), and a follow-up survey targeting the same participants between 25 and 28 March (2020). We have discovered that perceived increased time staying at home, a subjective agency for social distancing, positively predicts not only risk perception of COVID-19 epidemic at the outbreak and eased stage, but also predicts subjective controllability of COVID-19 epidemic at the eased stage.

Reducing Carbon Footprint Inequality of Household Consumption in Rural Areas: Analysis from Five Representative Provinces in China.

Household consumption carbon footprint and inequality reductions are vital for a sustainable society, especially for rural areas. This study, focusing on rural China, one of the fastest growing economies with a massive population, explored the carbon footprint and inequality of household consumption using the latest micro household survey data of 2018 linked to environmental extended input--output analysis. The results show that in 2018 in rural China, the average household carbon footprint is 2.

Determinants of smallholder farmers' choice on mulch film thickness in rural China.

Agricultural mulch film pollution has become a prevailing concern. Studies have shown that the thickness of mulch film is a key factor affecting mulch film recycling, but research about farmers' choice on mulch film thickness is lacking. Based on survey data from 2025 households in five Chinese provinces in 2018, the Heckman two-stage model was used to analyze the influencing factors of farmers' choice on mulch film thicknesses.

Anthropomorphic Strategies Promote Wildlife Conservation through Empathy: The Moderation Role of the Public Epidemic Situation.

The global illegal wildlife trade directly threatens biodiversity and leads to disease outbreaks and epidemics. In order to avoid the loss of endangered species and ensure public health security, it is necessary to intervene in illegal wildlife trade and promote public awareness of the need for wildlife conservation. Anthropomorphism is a basic and common psychological process in humans that plays a crucial role in determining how a person interacts with other non-human agents.

Climate change vulnerability assessment for smallholder farmers in China: An extended framework.

Climate change brings uncertainty and challenges to achieving sustainable development goals. The dually vulnerable regions in terms of the environment and economy are facing substantial threats from climate change; particularly, smallholder farmers who heavily rely on natural ecosystems in these regions are being the most affected. Paying attention to the vulnerability assessment of these regions is conducive to precisely improving the ability of their people to cope with climate change.

Conditional cash transfers, uptake of maternal and child health services, and health outcomes in western rural China.

Background: Empirical evidence suggests that the uptake of maternal and child health (MCH) services is still low in poor rural areas of China. There is concern that this low uptake may detrimentally affect child health outcomes. Previous studies have not yet identified the exact nature of the impact that a conditional cash transfer (CCT) has on the uptake of MCH services and, ultimately, on child health outcomes.

The Impact of Social Support on the Health of the Rural Elderly in China.

With the dramatic trend of global aging, the physical and mental health of the rural elderly has attracted significant attention. Social support plays an important role in improving the health of the elderly. However, assessing the impact of social support on the physical and mental health of the elderly is challenging in rural China.

Factory employment exposure and human health: Evidence from rural China.

Quantitating the health effects of employment history in factories, especially polluting ones, is essential for understanding the benefits or losses of industrialization in rural areas. Using a traced subset of nationwide panel data from 2005 covering five provinces, 101 villages, and 2026 households (collected recently in 2016) and the econometric models, this study estimated the effect of factory employment history on workers' health. The results showed that: the absolute number of factory workers increased from 1998 to 2015, and the proportion of factory workers was 7.

Synthesis of Sulfur-Selenium Doped Carbon Quantum Dots for Biological Imaging and Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species.

The sulfur-selenium doped carbon quantum dots (S,Se-CQDs) were synthesized by one-step through hydrothermal method in this study, which have high fluorescence quantum yield (43%) and advanced ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). They were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that the clearance rate of free radical reached to 40% with 200 μg/mL of S,Se-CQDs.

Management principles for heavy metal contaminated farmland based on ecological risk-A case study in the pilot area of Hunan province, China.

A pilot project for farmland soil remediation was carried out in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (CZX) area of Hunan province, China. However, the pilot project focused mainly on the risk of exposure to heavy metals on grain safety, and little attention was paid to the risk to ecosystem quality. The study selected three areas in counties of in the CZX, and focused on five high toxicity heavy metals-Cd (cadmium), Cr (chromium), Pb (lead), As (arsenic), Hg (mercury) to explore the potential ecological risks of the soil.

The More Educated, the Healthier: Evidence from Rural China.

Education, as an important aspect of human capital, not only affects the economic returns of an individual, but also affects non-economic returns. This paper uses data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2014 and explores the impact of education on the health status of rural residents by using the family fixed-effect model. We find that education can improve the self-reported health status and reduce the possibility of depression of rural residents.

Using daily text messages to improve adherence to infant micronutrient powder (MNP) packets in rural western China: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of daily text messages as a means to improve caregivers' adherence to infant micronutrient powder (MNP) in rural Shaanxi Province of China.

Methodology: 638 infants aged 6-11 months in 234 villages were involved in a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT). All caregivers were given free infant MNP packets at baseline in April 2013 and the follow-up survey was in July 2013.

The effect of a micronutrient powder home fortification program on anemia and cognitive outcomes among young children in rural China: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Anemia early in life has been associated with delayed cognitive and motor development. The WHO recommends home fortification using multiple micronutrient powders (MNPs) containing iron as a strategy to address anemia in children under two. We evaluated the effects of a program freely distributing MNP sachets to caregivers of infants in rural China.

More Poop, More Precision: Improving Epidemiologic Surveillance of Soil-Transmitted Helminths with Multiple Fecal Sampling using the Kato-Katz Technique.

Soil-transmitted helminths, or parasitic intestinal worms, are among the most prevalent and geographically widespread parasitic infections in the world. Accurate diagnosis and quantification of helminth infection are critical for informing and assessing deworming interventions. The Kato-Katz thick smear technique, the most widely used laboratory method to quantitatively assess infection prevalence and infection intensity of helminths, has often been compared with other methods.

Effect of Deworming on Indices of Health, Cognition, and Education Among Schoolchildren in Rural China: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

AbstractSoil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infect over one billion people worldwide. There is concern that chronic infection with STHs among school-aged children may detrimentally affect their development, including their health, cognition, and education. However, two recent Cochrane reviews examining the impact of deworming drugs for STH on nutrition, hemoglobin, and school performance found that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature provide an insufficient evidence base to draw reliable conclusions.

The gender gap among school children in poor rural areas of western China: evidence from a multi-province dataset.

Background: The gender gap remains a major impediment in the path towards equality and it is especially wide in low-income countries. Up to the early 2000s, many studies documented extensive inequalities in China: girls had poorer health, less nutrition and less education than their male counterparts. The goal of this study is to examine whether the gender gap persists, given that China is now making the transition into the ranks of upper-middle income countries.