evidence: Centuries of speculation about the causes of human stress on the environment is now being disciplined with empirical evidence, including analyses of differences in greenhouse-gas emissions across contemporary nation states. The cumulative results can provide useful guidance for both climate projections and for policy design. Growing human population and affluence clearly contribute to enhanced environmental stress. Evidence does not support the argument for amelioration of greenhouse-gas emissions at the highest levels of affluence. However, the role of other factors, such as urbanization, trade, culture and institutions remains ambiguous. [...] Jorgenson, A. K. Global warming and the neglected greenhouse gas: A cross-national study of the social causes of methane emissions intensity, 1995. Soc. Forces84, 1779–1798 (2006). [...] Development zone policy and urban carbon emissions: empirical evidence from the construction of national high-tech industrial development zones in China