User:Meganlahn/Climate change in China

International Agreements:
China is currently a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement. As a part of this agreement it has agreed to the 2016 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which outlines specific goals and targets for the upcoming five years to help mitigate the effects of climate change. China, along with 196 countries, agreed to help reduce rising global temperatures and set a goal temperature of 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. China has agreed to its NDC goal of reducing the CO2 intensity of its gross domestic product by 60% by 2030.

China is a part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, BASIC Alliance. This alliance is an international commitment to work in partnership with Brazil, South Africa, and India. BASIC’s international commitments and goals are to be carbon net-zero before 2060, and to help achieve the global goal from the UNFCCC of reducing emissions to 1.5% degrees celsius before pre-industrial levels.

Sea Level Rise:
Rising sea levels affect China’s coastal land. Cities along the coast such as Shanghai, only 3-5 meters above sea level leaves its 18 million residents vulnerable. Sea levels in Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong have already risen .12 meters in the last 50 years.

Ecosystems:
China is home to 17,300 species of plants and animals: 667 vertebrates, ancient flora and fauna. Due to rising global temperatures, within the next century 20-30% of species will go extinct. More than one fourth of China is covered by desert, which is growing due to desertification. Desertification in China destroys farmland, biodiversity, and exacerbates poverty.

Water Resources:
Glacier melting in the Northern Region of China causes flooding in the upper parts of the Yangtze River. This ruins soil and arable land. The glacial melting causes lower parts of the Yangtze River to have lower volumes of water, also disrupting farming.

Overfishing and rising ocean temperatures are killing the coral reefs in the South China Sea. This lowers biodiversity, and negatively affects the fish market economy in China.

Fish Industry
Due to overfishing, pollution, global temperature increase, and change in pH to the world's oceans, the South China Sea is suffering from a lack in biodiversity among marine life. Historically, China was the world's largest capture fisheries and aquaculture producer, making the fish market a significant part of the Chinese economy. Due to the environmental impacts, coral reefs in the South China Sea are dying, decreasing the amount of marine life in the South China Sea. Fisheries are not able to catch the amount of fish that was once brought to the fish market, making that part of the economy suffer. The amount of fishing in China is unsustainable, and therefore declining. The fishing industry supplies a significant amount of jobs, exports, and domestic consumption, which will disappear if the fishing industry collapses.