The health consequences of greenhouse gas emissions: a potential pathway

Excessive greenhouse gas emissions might be the major culprit for environmental degradation, which have direct and indirect adverse impacts in various ways. As the largest emitter of carbon emissions, China suffered great harm from climate change during the past 40 years. Therefore, it becomes necessary to study the impact of carbon emissions on health issues and their potential mechanism. Using the panel data from 30 provinces in China between 2002 and 2017, this study employes and extends the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model and mediating effect model to analyze the direct and indirect effects of carbon emissions. The main results are as follows: (1) Carbon emissions has a certain negative impact on public health, which would increase with the rise of temperature. (2) The increase in carbon emissions has a more significant negative effect on health with the average temperature exceeding 17.75 °C, indicating that the temperature has a threshold effect. (3) The potential health risks become higher with the development of urbanization, but there is no obvious spillover effect in the health consequences. The results remain robust after controlling other factors. This study supplements the literature of climate governance and human health, potentially contributing to the next stage of high-quality and sustainable development.