The Significance and General Approaches of Climatic Carrying Capacity Assessment

Abstract

The construction of ecological civilization needs to take both environmental protection and socio-economic development into consideration. Climate is one of the important environmental resources; it is also a foundation which human and society development depend on. Climate changes have exerted significant global impacts, which will continue in the future and affect population, livelihoods, economy, resources, ecosystems and many other aspects. In the future development planning, we need to coordinate the change of climate system and its impacts, fully follow and abide by climatic rules, take into consideration climatic carrying capacity, define the natural ecosystem and the intensity and scale of human socio-economic activities which the climatic resources can carry. This article introduces some related research background about the carrying capacities of environment and resources, and brings out the concept of climatic carrying capacity. In addition, the article summarizes general approaches of climatic carrying capacity assessment and introduces two case studies of climatic carrying capacity to clarify the urgency and importance of climatic carrying capacity assessment, as well as its practical significance to socio-economic development. The assessment of climatic carrying capacity has just got off the ground, and is faced with many challenges. We suggest that the priority lies in constructing and improving the theoretical foundation and assessment framework of climatic carrying capacity; secondly, the assessment should be focused on practicality and operability in accordance with local conditions; thirdly, the assessment on climatic carrying capacity needs to be integrated with other disciplines, and the application areas and service objects should be broadened; and finally, carrying out the assessment of climatic carrying capacity, especially quantitative assessment, requires continuous innovation and further involvement of new technological methods.