Relationship among marine pollution, outdoor activities, and climate change: Fresh evidence from panel threshold regression analysis from coastal regions of China

The mitigation of oceanic pollution is believed to be influenced by the expansion of marine economies and advancements in technology, as per existing research. Nevertheless, the current body of research on this topic is lacking in terms of exploring the potential nonlinearity of the relationship and fully understanding the extent to which the observed effects have been demonstrated. The present study endeavors to bridge the existing research void by investigating the coastal regions of China spanning the time from 2000 to 2020. The present study utilizes a panel threshold model to examine the non-linear effects of marine patents and per capita gross ocean product on marine pollution. The measure of marine pollution is based on the quantity of industrial wastewater that is discharged directly into the ocean. The research findings suggest that there is a notable association between the increase in per capita GOP and the worsening of marine pollution across the three stages of the panel threshold model. The impact of China's environmental issues appears to be decreasing over time, indicating that the country is currently in the early stages of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) before reaching its peak. Based on the analysis of current trends, it is possible to deduce that a potential negative correlation between the GOP and pollution could emerge if these patterns continue. The implication arises that the expansion of the marine economy has the potential to alleviate environmental stressors on the ocean. In the context of marine patents, the research findings did not reveal any significant correlations at the lower and intermediate stages. During the analysis of the high-level phase, it was observed that marine patents exerted a significant impact on pollution, indicating the growing importance of technological advancements in the marine industry for addressing and reducing marine pollution. The process of identifying the number of provinces and municipalities has been completed for all three phases. The development of the marine economy has garnered considerable attention due to its numerous policy implications.