Climate Change and Human Health in China

There is near unanimous scientific consensus that the world's climate is changing and most of the warming is attributable to human activities. Over the past few decades, economic expansion of China, the largest developing country, has been one of the strongest in world history. Such an economic expansion, however, is largely driven by fossil fuels, which leads to dramatic increases in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Although emissions per person in China are at the global average, China surpassed the United States as the country emitting the most carbon dioxide (CO 2) in 2007 (International Energy Agency 2009). China is also a large emitter of methane and black carbon, the other two major contributors to global warming. As in other parts of the world, China has experienced noticeable changes in climate over the past 100 years (National Development and Reform Commission 2007). The annual average air temperature has risen by 0.5–0.8°C, which is slightly higher than the average global temperature increase, and most of these changes have been observed over the past 50 years. Regional distribution of temperature changes shows that the warming trend was more significant in western, eastern, and northern China than in southern China. Seasonal distribution of the temperature changes shows that the most significant temperature increase occurred in winter. The trend of climate warming in China is projected to intensify in the future. The Chinese government has paid great attention to climate change, but so far, there has been limited focus on climate-related the health impacts. Evidence is mounting that climate change has already affected human health directly and indirectly in China, including mortality from extreme weather events, changes in air and water quality, and changes in the ecology of infectious diseases (Zhang et al. 2010). The observed relationship between temperature and daily mortality among Chinese residents has been generally J-or U-shaped, with mortality risk decreasing from the lowest temperature to an inflection point and then increasing with higher temperature (Kan et al. 2007). Heat waves and other extreme weather conditions have been associated with increased death risk in large Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. Elevated mortality during temperature extremes has been attributed mainly to cardio vascular and respiratory diseases, especially among the elderly. However, little information is available in China on possible modifiers of the health impact of thermal extremes, such as pre existing health status and population demographics. Improvement of living conditions …