Global Warming in China

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Causes of Global Warming in China.........................................................................................5
Impact of Global Warming on Humans and Environment........................................................7
Advantages and Disadvantages of Global Warming...............................................................10
Effectiveness of Chinese Government Actions to deal with Global Warming........................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................13
Recommendations....................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................15
Introduction
The term global warming is almost familiar to everyone. However, its definition
is not yet clear to the majority of people. The term global warming refers to the
slow increase in the overall temperature of the Earth's atmosphere (UKEssays,
2021). It is the average earth's temperature has elevated from 1950 till today the
temperature is constantly rising. It can also be referred to as climate change
which has led to the rise in the earth's average temperature. The sea levels are
increasing, glaciers are melting, wildlife is moving quickly, and cloud forests
are dying to maintain tempo (Nunez, 2019). It is obvious that we people have
caused the majority of the warming in previous centuries by discharging heat-
trapping gases by powering our contemporary lives. These gases are known as
greenhouse gases, currently, their levels are greater compared to history since
the last 800000 years (Nunez, 2019).

From the previous centuries, the normal global temperature has gone up at a
rapid speed in the recorded history and experts see the trend is increasing
(MacMillan, 2020).
CO2 is infamously among the most well-known greenhouse gases which are
responsible for global warming. From 2006, China exceeded the USA as the
biggest emitter of Carbon in the world. In 2019, approximately ten gigatons of
CO2 had been discharged in China (Wong, 2021). China is responsible for
around 28% of carbon discharge from fossil fuels of the world. Most of the
carbon discharged from electricity energy lining up with global patterns. In
2018, carbon emission from electricity energy from China increases to around
ten gigatons that were predicted to be decreased to almost 2.6 gigatons by 2050
(Wong, 2021).

China is going through negative impacts of global warming in forestry, water

resources, and agriculture. It is anticipated to see mounted effects. China is the
biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world in terms of consumption as
well as production and stems majorly from the generation of coal electricity and
mining (Jun 2019).
Being the biggest developing nation in the world, China has accomplished the
fastest economic growth, middling a yearly growth rate of gross domestic
product at 10% from the last 20 years (Kan, 2019). However, these
achievements come at the expense of environmental deterioration.
Environmental problems of China such as global warming have turned out to be
more distinct and are putting residents of China at considerable risks related to
health (Gardner, 2019). Climate change in China holds a solid resemblance with
average global climate change. The average yearly mean surface air temperature
of the country has mounted by 1.1 degree Celsius from the last 5 decades and
0.5 to 0.8 degree Celsius from the last century, to some extent greater than the
worldwide temperature for a similar time. In winter, Northern china has
experienced the biggest rise in air temperature surface, even though no
important trend has been found in the average yearly precipitation of the
country (Ding, Ren, Xu, & Luo, 2017).

Causes of Global Warming in China

The studies on the causes of the regional global warming in China by the
utilization of climate models and concerns on different forcing indicate that the
global warming of the previous 5 decades could probably be pointed to a
mounted atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, whereas the change in
temperature of the initial 50 years of 20 th century might possibly be because of
solar activity, changes in surface temperature of the sea, and volcanic eruptions
(Kan, 2018). A considerable decrease in duration of sunshine and solar radiation
at the surface on the east side of China has been pointed to be the mounted
discharge of pollutants.
Bragging one of the biggest economies of the world, China has surpassed the
United States and Europe as the biggest emitter of the world with the emissions
of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels increased three times more from last 3
decades (Pidcock, 2016). It is due to the cooling from aerosols has been
noticing portion of the indication of global warming. The outcome of this is that
eliminating some sort of aerosols in a much-required bid to enhance the quality
of air could impel rapid global warming in the years to come. The recent studies
measure every gas and particle present in the atmosphere which are causing an
impact on global temperature and that can be traced back to the activities of
humans (Zhang & Qin, 2018). It comprises elements that have a warming
impact like black carbon, and greenhouse gases along with those which provoke
cooling like aerosols of nitrate and sulfate. Contrasting to aerosols, greenhouse
gases remain in the air for a long period. CO2 discharged at the beginning of the
industrial revolution is still warming the environment currently, that is the
reason scientists consider past and present emissions to figure out the
contribution of China to global warming (Pidcock, 2016).
The above graph indicates the effect on global temperature known as
radioactive forcing from various anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases in
China traced back to 1850 (Pidcock, 2016). The colored lines depict the best
estimates of the model and shading presents the range of uncertainty. One of the
largest sources of global warming in China is carbon dioxide from the burning
of fossil fuel shown in the red lines in the above graph. With the secretion
increasing sharply from the last many years, fossil fuels overhauled change of
land use as the largest source of carbon dioxide from China in 1992 as shown in
brown lines in the above graph. Warming as the consequence of the change in
land use emerged during the 20th century before turning down in the 1980s as
programs on reforestation twisted the land from an emitter to an absorber
(Pidcock, 2016). Despite this, emissions in past from change in land use are
still responsible for a third of atmospheric carbon dioxide pointed to China with
the burning of fossil fuel constitutes the other two thirds (Lai, 2019). The global
warming caused by nitrogen oxide emission and halogen compounds has
boosted from the 20 or 30 years to a fewer degree compared to fossil fuel
carbon dioxide, whereas warming caused by methane mounted threefold amid
1950 to 2010 (Pidcock, 2016).
The effect of current fossil fuel expansion in China is obvious with the
contribution of the country to overall worldwide fossil fuel carbon dioxide
approximately increased three times in the period of 3 decades from 1980 to
2010 (McGrath, 2020).
As per the results of recent studies, China is accounted for 28% of sulfate
aerosols present in the air as shown in the light blue bar in the below graph,
14% of black carbon show in the pink bar, and 24% of nitrate aerosols shown in
the dark blue bars in the graph below (Pidcock, 2016).

Agriculture and industrial farming emit high carbon dioxide and methane levels
into the environment. Farming contributes to a considerable amount of methane
and carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming in China (Kelly, 2019).
Utilization of wood and deforestation for making paper, materials, and fuel rises
global warming in two methods – emission of CO2 throughout the process of
deforestation and the decrease in the CO2 quantity which forest can detain. The
utilization of fertilizers rich in nitrogen raises the amount of heat cropland can
store. Nitrogen oxides can capture almost 300 times more heat compared to
CO2 (IEA, 2019). Burning off from the oil drilling sector affects the CO2
emitted into the air. Hyped as a purer source of fuel, drilling of natural has
caused huge warming in China, and the methods of hydraulic fracturing used to
dig out natural gas from shale reserves also contaminate sources of groundwater
(Kelly, 2019).

Impact of Global Warming on Humans and Environment

Like many other parts of the world, China has gone through obvious changes in
climate from the last century (NDRC, 2017). The yearly average atmospheric
temperature has increased by 0.5 to 0.8 degrees Celsius that is somewhat greater
than the average increase in the global temperature, and many of such changes
have been noticed in the last 5 decades (Kan, 2018). The government of China
has paid a lot of focus to climate change; however, there has been little
emphasis on health issues related to climate change. There are increasing
evidence that climate change has already impacted the health of people directly
as well as indirectly in China incorporating death from severe weather
condition, changes in quality of air and water, and alterations in the nature of
contagious diseases (Zhang, Mauzerall, Tiang, Ezzati, & Remais, 2019). The
health effects of high temperature and harsh air contamination might possibly
interrelate and are therefore worthy of focus as outside air pollution is among
the biggest challenges for the environment for the health of people in cities of
China (Kan, Chen, Chen, & Jiang, 2017). The noted connection between
temperature and regular death rate amongst residents of China has been usual J
or U shaped with risk of death declining from the lowest temperature to a
variation point and then mounting with increased temperature. Heatwaves and
other serious weather events have been related to the mounted risk of death in
the biggest cities of China like Shanghai and Beijing. Increased deaths
throughout extremes of temperature have been pointed largely to respiratory and
heart diseases, particularly amongst the elders. But, some data is available in
China on potential modifiers of the health effect of extremes of temperature like
the pre-existing status of health and demographics of the population.
Global warming can impact environmental sensitive contagious diseases hosted
by vectors or animals as well. In China, such diseases include Japanese
encephalitis, malaria, Schistosomiasis, Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection,
and dengue fever (Kan, 2018).

Global Warming might possibly intensify corrosion, decreases organic matter,

loss of soil biodiversity, flooding and desertification, salinization, and
landslides. The impact of global warming on the storage of soil carbon can be
associated with altering concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, changing
patterns of precipitation, and mounted temperatures (EUC, 2019). Global
warming has a direct as well as indirect effect on ecosystems and species.
Biodiversity is already reacting to global warming and will keep on doing so.
Direct effects incorporate alterations in phenology, distribution, and abundance
of species, the structure of habitat, processes of the ecosystem, the composition
of the community. Global warming is causing indirect effects as well on
biodiversity by altering land use and other resources. These might possibly be
more harmful compared to direct effects because of their scope, scale, and pace,
and comprises fragmentation of habitat and loss, air, soil, and water pollution,
the spread of invasive species, and over-exploitation (EUC, 2019).
The effects of global warming in China are various because of the vast size of
the country and its radically varied geographies – varied from wide-ranging
mountains, deserts, and grasslands to humid forests and low-lying coastal
regions (Lai, 2019). The fastest temperature changes directly and deeply impact
glaciers. A 4 degree Celsius increase in temperature can cause the fast melting
of glaciers on a worldwide scale (Guotai, 2018). The melting of such glaciers
can lead to flooding from glaciers lakes to the Yangtze River and decrease the
quantity of water in downstream areas of the Yangtze River (Lai, 2019). In an
attempt to avoid natural calamities and provide untimely notice to the citizens
living in the high-risk areas, the Science Academy of China, The UN
Environmental Program, and National Meteorological Administration have been
monitoring activities of glaciers in the mountains of Himalaya (Hong, Zhang,
Steven, & Tong, 2019).
Melting of Himalayan glaciers can lead to the flood of 200 glacier lakes and
create large-scale overflow and mudslides in the mountain regions (Zhaxi,
2017). The areas near the highway between Sichuan and Tibet, the upper area of
Yarkand River, the middle part of Mount Tian, and the eastern Pamirs Plateau
have each experienced gradually more frequent and destructive mudslides
(Zuopin & Ailin, 2015).
Global Warming also directly impacts the coastal regions of China because the
increase in normal global temperature speeds up the melting of ice and rising
sea levels increasing (Lai, 2019). The normal sea level at coastal areas of China
has mounted by 90 millimeters from the last 3 decades. Fast urbanization on the
coasts of China also worsens the risks of increasing sea levels. Tianjin and
Shanghai for example indicate increases rates of sea-level increase because of
the higher quantity of building and their over-extraction of groundwater that
lessens the load of land hauling capacity and speeds up the sinking of lands
(Lai, 2019).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Global Warming

Our present climate disaster imposes an existential risk dissimilar to any other
species that has encountered before. The fastest rise in worldwide normal
temperature will cause chaos in not just our atmosphere, however, in our
everyday lives too. In 2019, the average temperature worldwide was 0.99
degrees Celsius compared to any other year (Rosenberg, 2020). The changes in
atmospheric temperature can comprise considerable loss of ice at sea and land,
ocean circulation changes, weather pattern changes, and ocean acidification
which eventually lead to a shortage in food and water with social and economic
turmoil (Fang, Guirui, & Liu, 2018). There are numerous methods through
which society can benefit from changes in atmospheric temperature. Decreased
ice at seas will open more route passages for ships and will enable the poles to
be more easily reachable. A hot atmosphere might possibly offer some regions,
specifically northern latitudes, earlier and longer growing seasons. Hot winters
will lessen cold-induced mortality. Mounted levels of CO2 might possibly assist
vegetation to grow for a greener world. Sadly, despite the fact that numerous of
such advantages are temporary and are mainly surpassed by the negative effects
of global warming (MacArthur, 2019). Ice is an essential element of the
worldwide atmosphere system as it reflects a huge sum of solar radiation
meanwhile moderating worldwide sea level as well. When ice melts, the less
reflected surface of the ocean is exposed and in place of radiation being
reflected, it is soaked up and leads to more ice melts. It is known as a positive
feedback system that is the reason behind sensitive Polar Regions to climate
change. High northern latitudes are encountering quick warming because of
polar magnification which causes sea and land ice to melt at a rapid speed
(MacArthur, 2019).
For every single potential benefit of global warming, there are deeper and
forcing disadvantages as well. Changes in the circulation of weather and
consequent hot temperatures disturb the normal climate pattern of the world;
posing a more severe climate and a mounted rate of extreme and disastrous
storms like typhoons and hurricanes (Rosenberg, 2020). Greater levels of sea
direct to overflow of low lands. Coastlines and islands are overwhelmed by
water prompting diseases and death because of flooding. The acidification of
hot oceans directs to coral reef loss. The coral reefs secure shorelines from
serious waves, floods, and storms, whereas they just cover almost 0.1% of the
ocean floor, reefs give an environment for 25% of the species of the ocean
(Helman, 2019). As climate change impacting patterns of weather production of
food that have a negative consequence on human life and the planet, global
warming can also damage pocketbooks of people, the economy of a country at a
large scale, and the health of people in general (Rosenberg, 2020).

Effectiveness of Chinese Government Actions to deal with Global

Warming
Luckily, China is more concerned regarding climate actions. The country with a
population of 1.4 billion – the most populous country in the world and leading
emitter of greenhouse gas – took a big jump and introduced its national carbon
market in 2017 (Zhang & Qin, 2018). The national carbon market imitates
lessons learned and encounters from several pilot projects by using the
evidence-based market solution to handle global warming at a serious time. In
the beginning, the carbon market of the nation would cover the power industry
characterizing 1700 plus firms which are responsible for approximately one-
third of total carbon emission of China, making it the largest carbon market in
the world (McKenna, 2019).
The government of China has begun to concentrate on the global warming
issues and has boarded on the strategic change from monetary development
only to atmosphere and growth in building a society which eco-friendly and
energy saving. The economic development of China can be the base of
enhancements in environmental health. At the beginning of the 1980s, the
government of China invested 1.6 billion US dollars yearly or 0.51% of the
GDP of China on the protection of the environment, and in 2008, the amount
escalated to 66 billion US dollars. In 2009, for the very first time, China noted a
decrease in the total emission of chemical oxygen needed in water and sulphure
dioxide in the atmosphere. The government of China launched a National
Environmental and Health Action Plan to confront the requirement to set up
national supervision for the network for the environment and health. The
Chinese government has conducted nationwide surveys to acquire correct data
on the nature and degree of environmental contamination and its effects on
health. China intends to create an all-inclusive and effective system for
environmental health. Moreover, the government has overcome institutional and
policy blockades like the absence of efficient legislation, the method for inter-
departmental collaboration, health officials’ involvement in the management of
the environment, sufficient staffing at the national level (Kan, 2019).
The Chinese government aims to strike top emissions before 2030 and carbon
neutrality by 2060 (McGrath, 2020). Low carbon growth is in agreement with
the energy restructuring plan of China that intends to set up new high-
efficiency, green energy, and low carbon systems. After the launch of its
National Climate Change Program in 2007, China reported its intended
reduction targets of emission, devoting itself to a decrease of per unit GDP
emission from 40 to 45% by 2025 (Gao, 2019).
China put into practice its targets for climate change over the five years Socio-
Economic Development Plan. Throughout this plan, china aimed to decrease the
emission of carbon dioxide per unit GDP by17%. As per the statistics, China
decreased its emission of carbon dioxide per unit GDP by 15.8% than in 2010,
therefore accomplishing 92.3% of the decrease in carbon target which was set in
the five-year plan. As per the plan, the Chinese government has effectively
controlled its emission in its main sectors like steel, chemical, power generation,
and building material sector. Main industries like building, transport, and
energy industries have moved forward to turn into low carbon industries. The
nationally joint carbon emission trading market has grown more. Sound carbon
secretion verification, the mechanism for management of quota, verification,
and reporting has been set up. Such measures have to speed up the decrease in
carbon emission in china and connect its carbon market and verification and
reporting methods with other countries (Gao, 2019).
As per the reports in the Environment State in China amongst cities that are
putting into practice the new monitoring systems for air quality just 10% have
achieved the standard of normal yearly quality (Gao, 2019). The Chinese
government has launched strong policies which have already successfully
decreased its emission of carbon and soon it will be the leading country in
global climate mitigation (Biesecker, 2017). The approach to Chinese Policy to
environmental issues has been assessed as a model of environmental
authoritarianism in the sense that it regulates authority in some executive
agencies with authority to restrict individual freedom. China's drivers of low
carbon championship are quite indirect and could be seen as a side effect of
other more pressing national demands (Engels, 2018).

Conclusion
To conclude, our earth is sick and we humans have to heal it. Global warming
has imposed many issues for humanity and the environment as well, but we are
the ones who are responsible for it. A lot of humans have died due to calamities
and diseases. It has also impacted the economies of the nation. Global warming
refers to the slow increase in the overall temperature of the Earth's atmosphere.
China is responsible for around 28% of carbon discharge from fossil fuels of the
world. Environmental problems of China such as global warming have turned
out to be more distinct and are putting residents of China at considerable risks
related to health. Like many other parts of the world, China has gone through
obvious changes in climate from the last century. Luckily, China is more
concerned regarding climate actions. The government of China has begun to
concentrate on the global warming issues and has boarded on the strategic
change from monetary development only to atmosphere and growth in building
a society which eco-friendly and energy saving. The Chinese government has
launched strong policies which have already successfully decreased its emission
of carbon and soon it will be the leading country in global climate mitigation.

Recommendations
China is the most populous country in the world and the biggest carbon emitter.
If it can fulfill its immense potential for reduction of emission, it can have a
massive role in handling global warming. The government of China must
launch a national action plan to stop the development of coal utilization,
enhancing the quality of air, and assisting the nation to limit total emission. We
being as individuals can reduce global warming by decreasing the use of
gasoline emphasize on recycling, and we must help the government to decrease
global warming rather than causing the temperature of the earth to increase
further. We have to take care of our planet as the coming generations will face
the consequences of what we are doing today. We have to lessen the addition of
greenhouse gases to the environment. Thus, the solution to it is to decrease
global warming by decreasing the use of electricity, gasoline, and activities that
lead to global warming. For reducing the consumption of gasoline, we have to
choose the hybrid car which lessens the consumption of gasoline. We can also
reduce the consumption of gasoline by using public transport. It can assist in
decreasing CO2 and save expenses. We must halt the open burning like burning
garbage, dry leaves, plastics, rubbers, papers, etc. Open burning discharges CO2
and toxic gases. On the other side, the government must decrease deforestation
as the temperature of the earth is increasing and trees can help to enhance the
atmospheric temperature of the earth. Instead of burning garbage in open areas,
we can recycle them. For example, when we are purchasing food, we can bring
our bags rather than using plastic bags. We should stop throwing water bottles
after we finish drinking. We can use that bottle again.
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