Impact of Climate Change on Sustainable Development in China: A Regional Metabolism Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT Climate change poses considerable challenges to global communities. This study proposes a novel framework that integrates seasonality and resilience to analyze regional metabolic responses to climate change in China. By using urban metabolism based on emergy analysis, this study quantifies material and energy flows within urban systems and investigates their adaptive behaviors under climate stress. The results indicate that increases in temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and sunlight exposure diminish metabolic efficiency; conversely, precipitation and wind speed enhance metabolic efficiency. Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change on urban metabolism are most pronounced in spring, followed by winter. When regions with varying levels of resilience are considered, metabolic efficiency ranks highest in high‐resilience regions, followed by medium‐ and low‐resilience regions. Notably, the impacts of climate change on metabolism are more substantial in high‐ and medium‐resilience regions than in low‐resilience areas. These findings offer empirical insights into supporting developing countries in pursuing sustainable development amid climate change.