Do carbon emissions impact the health of residents? Considering China's industrialization and urbanization

Industrialization and urbanization have aggravated the contradiction between environmental protection and economic growth, leading to health issues. While there are considerable interests in understanding the health effects of carbon emissions in the context of climate change, little is observed at regional scale and by econometric methods. Applying regression analysis on 2002–2017 Chinese provincial-level panel data, this study explores the intermediary mechanisms and regional differences of carbon emissions on residents' health. The results indicate that: (1) Carbon emissions have a long-term adverse impact on residents' health—a 1% rise in carbon emission adds 0.298% more outpatients and 0.162% more inpatients; (2) The rise in carbon emissions impairs residents' health mainly by raising the temperature; (3) In areas with high levels of industrialization and urbanization, increased carbon emissions bring greater health risks; and (4) In terms of China's unique “leading industrialization and lagging urbanization” situation, only by upgrading industrial structure, improving urbanization quality, and promoting coordinated industrialization and urbanization can the harm of carbon emissions to residents' health be reduced. Therefore, the “one-size-fits-all” policy model is not suitable for China's current situation. To address global “climate change” issues, China must act according to local conditions by applying mitigating (adaptive) measures in economically developed (less developed) regions. Simultaneously, the authorities must focus on the interaction and synergy between industrialization and urbanization.