ABSTRACT
In November 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014) released its 5th Assessment Report, providing a gloomy picture of the various phenomena that are and will be affecting China, its environment and its people. With regards to Asia, scientists have observed an increase of 0.4–2.5°C, that will surge to 2–4°C over the mid-term (2046–2065) and to 4–6°C over the long term (2081–2100). Rising temperatures have resulted in different impacts for such a vast country like China, with drastically different geographies ranging from mountains, grasslands and deserts to tropical forests and low-lying coastal areas. Increase in temperatures and decrease in annual mean soil moisture – essential determinants of plant growth – are adversely affecting rice and other crop yields. Changing climate is contributing to the altering of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity. Warming temperatures are also expanding the geographic range of infectious diseases such as dengue fever and schistosomiasis to the northern part of the country. Rapid change in temperatures is also directly linked to glaciers melting and sea-level rise. The latter puts China’s eastern regions under the risk of coastal inundation (Gupta, 2014). According to the China Meteorological Administration, the extraordinary frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the last few years, such as floods, droughts and storms, is also to be attributed to climate change (Blanchard, 2007). These phenomena not only translate into great economic losses and adverse human health impacts, but also further exacerbate the environmental crisis resulting from 20 years of dramatic economic development (Brombal et al., 2015).
