Study on the impact of population on the environment of Xinjiang, China

In Xinjiang, population growth is the main driver in the environmental degradation and its impact is closely related to the intensity of human economic activities. This paper presents an index called PIIE (Population Impact Index on the Environment) to measure the impact of population on the environment of Xinjiang. This index is based on a GWR (Geographically Weighted Regression) model which can model spatially varying relationship between population and intensity of economic activities over 86 administrative divisions of Xinjiang. The PIIE value of each administrative division was obtained by dividing the estimated population number by the population mean of 86 administrative divisions. Statistical data of 1980 and 2004 were used and two corresponding PIIE maps of Xinjiang were produced. The PIIE values provided quantitative indicators to analyze the spatial variation and temporal evolution of the population impact on the environment of Xinjiang.