Abstract
Anthropogenic climate change appears to be increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of extreme weather events. Such events have already had substantial impacts on socioeconomic development and population health. Climate change’s most profound impacts are likely to be on food, health systems and water. This paper explores how climate change will affect food, human health and water in China. Projections indicate that the overall effects of climate change, land conversion and reduced water availability could reduce Chinese food production substantially – although uncertainty is inevitable in such projections. Climate change will probably have substantial impacts on water resources – e.g. changes in rainfall patterns and increases in the frequencies of droughts and floods in some areas of China. Such impacts would undoubtedly threaten population health and well-being in many communities. In the short-term, population health in China is likely to be adversely affected by increases in air temperatures and pollution. In the medium to long term, however, the indirect impacts of climate change – e.g. changes in the availability of food, shelter and water, decreased mental health and well-being and changes in the distribution and seasonality of infectious diseases – are likely to grow in importance. The potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change can only be avoided if all countries work together towards a substantial reduction in the emission of so-called greenhouse gases and a substantial increase in the global population’s resilience to the risks of climate variability and change.
Highlights
The consequences of climate change will be felt in all of the world’s continents, countries and populations.[1]
This paper aims to provide an overview of the potential impact of climate change on food and water in China and the consequences of that impact on the population’s health
Climate change is likely to have a major impact on global water resources by altering rainfall patterns and increasing the frequency of long and severe droughts in some areas, including China.[1]
Summary
The consequences of climate change will be felt in all of the world’s continents, countries and populations.[1]. The peak in China’s emissions of such gases could come by 2025 – if not substantially sooner.[3] On 16 March 2016, the Chinese Government officially approved its 13th five-year plan, the blueprint for China’s economic and social development between 2016 and 2020.4 The aims of this plan, which was the first to highlight environmental protection as a key priority, include 23%, 15%, and 18% reductions in water consumption, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, respectively, by 2020. Climate change has the potential to interrupt progress towards a world without hunger.[13] China, the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest growing developing economies, is not exempt from the adverse effects of such change.[14] China already has to import grain in an attempt to meet its food needs, and the gap between those needs and national food production is likely to increase as climate change proceeds.[15]. In the North China Plain, it has been projected that compared to the yields achieved in 1961–1990, maize yields will reduce by 9–10% during the 2020s, 16–19% during
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
