Download Huang, Alex - East

Spring 2013
UNC Asheville
ATMS/LSIC 179
Global Climate Change and China
Alex Huang, Atmospheric Sciences
Students will learn the science of global
climate change and its impacts to China. The
subjects include geography, climate zones,
and historical climate of China. The
environmental challenges of China in the
modern century will be discussed.
Spring 2013
UNC Asheville
ATMS/LSIC 179
Global Climate Change and China
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Global Climates
Climate Processes
Climate Global Climate Change
Future Global Climates
China
Impacts of Climate Change to China
China’s Strategy to Deal with Climate Change
Challenges
People’s Republic of China (PRC)
Republic of China (ROC)
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/cn.htm#.Ud6SDqyd6So
23 Provinces, 4 Municipalities, 5 Autonomous Regions
and 2 Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of PRC.
One Time Zone in
China;
It is UTC + 8 hours;
No daylight saving
time in summer.
http://managingchina.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
4 Municipalities
Shanghai,
22 million people (2010)
Tianjin, 11 million
Beijing, 18 million
Guangzhou, 11 million
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Topography of China
Desert
Arid/Steppe
Plateau
High mountains
Plains
Hills
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:China_100.78713E_35.63718N.jpg
Climates of China
http://www.voyagesphotosmanu.com/chinese_climate.html
Climates of United States and China
http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/geg101i/regions/easlecture/easlecture.htm
Temperature Changes of the Past 50 Years in China
Tendency of mean annual temperature in China from
1951 to 2001. (Ren Guoyu 2004).
Why should China be concerned about
climate change?
• China is under international pressure for actions
• Climate change interrupts agriculture production
• Climate change affects people’s lives and properties
• Climate change hinders economic growth and
political stability
World Total Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
listed by United Nation in 2010
14,720 billion
9,872 billion
(ranked 2)
GDP per capita: 49,000 (ranked 13)
GDP per capita: 7,369 (ranked 123)
Source: CIA World Factbooks
World CO2 Emission in 2009
5,299,563,000
7,687,114,000
Carbon Dioxide Emissions by China: 7.7 billion metric tons
(ranked 1st in the world of 31.5 billion metric tons)
World CO2 Emission per capita in 2009
17.3
5.8
http://data.world
bank.org/indicat
or/EN.ATM.CO2E.
PC/countries/all?
display=graph
Why should China do about climate change?
• China has to continue its rapid economic development
• China has to maintain political stability
• China has to mitigate the impacts of climate change
• China has to reduce the dependency of coal
• China has to upgrade its infrastructure of industry
• China has to defend its international reputation
The Bottom Line is
Controlling carbon dioxide emissions without
hindering economic development is a major
challenge for China and the world
(Zeng et al 2008).
China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate
Chang by the National development and Reform
Commission, PRC (2012)
Goals:
• To reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by
16 percent by 2015 from the level in 2011 (2%
reduction in 2011).
• Cut CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 17 percent
by 2015 (40% by 2020) compared to 2005 levels.
• Raise the proportion of non-fossil fuels in the
overall primary energy mix to 11.4% by 2015
( 8.6% in 2011).
China’s Policies and Actions
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Mitigating Climate Change
Adapting to Climate Change
Promoting Low-Carbon Pilot Projects
Strengthening Capacity Building
Participation of the Whole Society
Proactive Participation in International Negotiations
Enhancing International Exchange and Cooperation
1.
Mitigating Climate Change
(I) Adjusting Industrial Structure
• Transformation and upgrading of
Residential,
traditional industries
Commercial, 4%
11%
• Supporting the development of
strategic and newly emerging Transport
ation, 8%
industries
• Vigorously developing the
(hi-tech) service industry
Industrial, 77%
• Speeding up the elimination of
backward (obsolete) production
capacity
http://astrohow.org/energy/energy_breakdown.html
• Coal Consumption: 3.8 billion short tons (2011)
(ranked 1st in the world)
• Oil Consumption: 9.8 million barrels per day (2011)
(ranked 2nd in the world)
• Natural Gas Consumption: 3.8 trillion cubic feet (2011)
(ranked 5th in the world)
Oil, 19%
Coal, 70%
Hydroelectric, 6%
Natural gas, 4%
Nuclear, 1%
Other renewables, 0.3%
http://www.eia.gov/countries/countr
y-data.cfm?fips=CH
China total energy consumption: 2.5 Billion Metric Tons
of Oil Equivalent (2011) (ranked 1st in the world)
Non-fossil fuels
Coal, 70%
http://www.climate-connect.co.uk/Home/?q=node/2170
China energy use per capita: 1,807 kg of oil equivalent
per capita per year(2010) (ranked 61st in the world)
Why should we
take the blame?
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE/countries/1W?displa
y=default
Comparison of Energy Use in China and US
China
Residential,
11%
United States
Commercial, 4%
Residential, 21%
Commercial, 18%
Transporta
tion, 8%
Industrial, 77%
Transportation, 29%
Industrial, 32%
Data from Energy Information Administration
http://astrohow.org/energy/energy_breakdown.html
6. Proactive Participation in International Negotiations
(III) China’s Basic Positions and Stand on Participation in the
Doha 2012 UN Climate Change Conference
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Addressing climate change is based on the principles
of fairness and the principle of “common but
differentiated responsibilities and own capacities.”
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Developed countries should fulfill their promises to
reduce emissions and provide support in terms of
funding, technology transfer and capacity building,
and ensure that the already-established mechanisms
and institutions start substantive work, and play a
substantial role in offering support to developing
countries in coping with climate change.
The Bottom Line is
China recognizes the urgency and importance of the
climate change issue and attempts to mitigate the
impacts of climate change; however,
China is vast and the overhaul of infrastructure is a
demanding challenge.
Predictions of future atmospheric composition
Feeding emission scenarios
into a carbon-cycle model to
estimate CO2 concentration
A2: high but uneven economic
growth
A1: high but even economic
growth/efficient technologies
B2: slow but uneven economic
growth
B1: slow but even economic
growth
Fig. 8.4 Atmospheric abundances of carbon
dioxide for the four emissions families.
CO2 is responsible for 80% of the radiative forcing
caused by the increase of greenhouse gases.
New Supercritical and Ultra-Supercritical Coal-Fired
Power Plants Installed Annually, by Capacity
CHINA
USA
World, US, China Energy Consumption, 1990-2020
http://www.china.usc.edu/
Projected World Energy Mix in 2035
Nuclear, 7%
Other
renewables, 14%
Oil, 19%
Natural gas, 24%
Coal, 27%
http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/19/markets/global_energy_use/index.htm