Study of Light Pollution Risk in China based on EWM-TOPSIS and Correlation Analysis

Abstract

 In order to study the influencing factors of light pollution in China, this study aims to explore the main influencing factors of light pollution in China. First, 30 indicators, including population density, electricity output, land and marine protected area, and GDP per capita, were screened from five dimensions: economic development, population, ecology and geography, and 197 regional samples were selected from the global scale for analysis. Through the factor analysis dimensionality reduction process, the 30 indicators were grouped into five dimensions: air pollution level, biodiversity, natural resource storage, population density and economic development index, with a cumulative explanation rate of 97.89%. Subsequently, the entropy weight method (EWM) and TOPSIS model were used to assess the light pollution risk of the sample. The entropy weighting method determined the weights of the factors as air pollution level (0.212), biodiversity (0.346), natural resource storage (0.144), population density (0.282) and economic development index (0.016). Based on these weights, the light pollution risk index was calculated for each region. Finally, Spearman correlation analysis showed that population density (0.8193) and air pollution level (0.5101) were significantly and positively correlated with the light pollution index, while the economic development index (0.07903), biodiversity (-0.095), and natural resource stock (-0.02292) were weakly correlated. The study suggests that high population density and air pollution are the main drivers of light pollution, and it is recommended that these factors be prioritized in urban planning and environmental management to effectively control light pollution.