OUR PLANET MAGAZINE
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CRYOSPHERE
7
It is also leading to an increasingly serious shortage of water resources in
China. The measured runoff of the top six rivers since the 1950s suggests a
decline. In northern China some rivers experienced drying up and some
areas are suffering a drastic drop in groundwater. In the future there would
be a further imbalance between water supply and demand, particularly in
dry years and in north and northwest China. Climate change could have a
heavy impact on major projects, posing increasingly higher risks to their safe
operation. It may, for example, increase precipitation in the upper reaches of
the Yangtze River basin, likely leading to such geological disasters as mud-rock
flows and landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir catchment. The expected
warmer temperature of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau might further degenerate
the permafrost along its railway, likely destabilizing segments of the rail link.
The impacts of climate change on China's natural and ecological systems--
and on its economy and society--are also reflected in a number of other
facets. such as the shrinking acreage of lakes, falling water levels, reduced
wetland, degraded grassland, expanding desertification, damaged
biodiversity, and degraded marine ecosystems, including mangroves and
coral reefs. Climate change is posing a grim and real threat to China's economy
and its society, a threat that is likely to continue, turning from bad to worse.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to climate protection
and has taken various measures to address this issue. In a period prone to
contingent, extreme and protracted catastrophes, prevention and mitigation
are becoming more imperative. It is necessary to actively respond to it, and
to combat extreme climate disasters, with a robust emergency response
system and an improved climatic, ecological and environmental protection,
to enable due contributions to be made towards implementing the "Scientific
Development Concept", towards creating a harmonious society, towards
better and faster economic development and towards sustainable socio-
economic development in China.
by Qin Dahe
china
climate change and development
© China P
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