Climate Change and Industry Structure in China

CO2 Emission Features

Chu Wei

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780429825347
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Energy Industry
• Index: Economics

As carbon dioxide is the most significant source of greenhouse gases today, its emission quantity has become a primary focus of governments, scholars and the general public. From the perspective of industrial structure, the book mainly explores the features of carbon emissions in China. The author thoroughly studies related theories and literature about industrial structure and climate change, and reviews the different development histories of developed countries and China. Based on historical data, this volume discusses the influence of interprovincial industrial structure and income level on carbon emissions, and tries to estimate different industrial sectors' carbon emissions. It especially studies the case of Zhejiang Province, and analyses several factors which affect CO2 emissions. The book provides international readers withrich information about the characteristics, patterns and drivers of China's CO2 emissions, which will definitely help scholars and students better understand China's economy.

Part I

Theories and practice

1Industrial structure in China and emission of greenhouse gases

Climate change has been a critical global issue of universal concern in the international community, which has triggered increasing attention and discussions. Climate change refers to the constant and significant changes in temperature, precipitation and air flow in a certain period of time in the climate system with a basic time span of over a decade. For nearly a hundred years, in particular in the past 30 years or so, the earth has experienced climate change fundamentally as gradual warming. The concept of global warming, used as the description of the phenomenon of constantly rising temperature in climate change, is actually more restricted than that of climate change. But in terms of the causal relationship, global warming is the culprit of other phenomena of climate change, whose outcomes are ominous for most of the regions.

1.1 Influence of climate change and emission of greenhouse gases

1.1.1 Influence of climate change on the globe

As stated in the IPCC Forth Assessment Report, in the last 100 years (from 1906 to 2005), the average surface temperature has risen by 0.74°C, which may make the twentieth century the warmest 100 years in the past 1000 years and the latter part of the twentieth century the warmest 50 years in the past 1300 years (Soloman, 2007). There are both natural and anthropogenic factors leading to climate change. However, according to IPCC’s research and report, human activities since the Industrial Revolution, in particular the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) resulting from the exponential consumption of fossil fuels in industrialization by developed countries, are the primary causes of climate change.

Climate change is a complex phenomenon featured with chronicity and uncertainties, as reflected by diversity in its causes, far-reaching and profound impact, changes whose scale and extent are unavoidable and unquantifiable in the short term and hindrance to human activities to put off climate change. Without the implementation of necessary measures, it is expected that by the end of the twenty-first century, the average surface temperature could rise by 1.1–6.4°C. As a result, glacier melting will be accelerated, leading to sea level rise by 0.2–0.6 m, pronouncing changes in ecosystems and island countries and coastal regions suffering from severe natural disasters. The IPCC Assessment Report, bolstered by the latest and more supportive evidence, has further demonstrated that global warming has been an inarguable fact which may result primarily from human activities since the Industrial Revolution. The significant increase in the concentration of CO₂ and methane in the air, which far exceeds that before industrialization thousands of years ago, is largely ascribed to these activities.

With the growing concern of the international community on the growth of human-sourced GHG emissions and their contribution to global warming, promoted by the 1990 IPCC First Assessment Report, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, which focused on climate change and GHG emission reduction cooperation. In order to clarify the national emission reduction obligations, the Kyoto Protocol, themed on quantified emission cuts, was adopted at the third meeting of the UNFCCC.

Climate change, which is characterized by global warming, has evolved into a typical global environmental problem. It brings a dual effect to the physical and socio-economic aspects and generates a global natural ecosystem, water resources, coastal belts, agriculture and animal husbandry. The series has a significant impact and poses serious challenges to the survival and development of human society. According to Chinese scientists’ predictions, the average annual precipitation in China will increase in the future, and the possibility of extreme weather and climate events in the country will increase. The arid area may expand and the possibility of desertification will increase. The coastal sea level will continue to rise. The retreat of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Tianshan glaciers will accelerate (National Development and Reform Commission, 2007).

First of all, climate change will destroy the earth’s ecosystem. The continuous increase in temperature will have a great impact on the natural ecosystem, undermining the self-stability of the ecosystem, making the ecological environment suitable for animals and plants deteriorate and causing biodiversity to drastically decrease. At the same time, the problem of water resources is outstanding. Some rivers that are replenished with glaciers and melted water are affected by the increase in temperature. The run-off of rivers will increase and spring flood peaks come earlier. It is expected that in the next 20 or 30 years, the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas will accelerate, increasing the probability of flooding and mudslides, causing serious impact on water resources, and the river run-off will gradually decrease, laying the foundation for future water shortages.

Second, climate change will raise sea level. The warming of the sea increases the sea level gradually. As seawater will absorb more than 80% of the added heat of the climate system, the increase in seawater temperature will lead to the expansion of seawater. In addition, the increase in air temperature will accelerate the melting of glaciers. These two factors provide the impetus for sea-level elevation. Since 1978, the Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 2.7% per decade, while it has decreased by 7.4% in summer. Sea-level rise will exacerbate floods, seawater erosion and other disasters, endangering the infrastructure of island cities, threatening the economic development of coastal areas and even submerging coastal cities with low elevation. The areas most affected by sea-level rise are the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including China’s Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region.

Third, climate change will increase extreme weather. Increased climate change has triggered natural disasters such as droughts and floods, which has increased the probability of extreme weather. American scholars have found that the frequency of low-intensity hurricanes has not changed much in the past 30 or 40 years, but the frequency of high-intensity hurricanes has doubled. In 2005 alone, there were two serious meteorological disasters in the world. One was Hurricane Katrina in the USA and the other was Typhoon “Matsa” in China. In most parts of Africa and the Asian continent, more drought and flooding will be experienced. In addition, in the global warming process, abnormal weather with unusually cold weather has also appeared in some areas.

Finally, climate change will have a great impact on human survival. Climate anomalies have increased instability factors in production activities and raised the issue of rising investment costs. Changes in crop sowing time and planting structure will have an impact on agricultural production. By 2050, crop yields in East and Southeast Asia are expected to increase by 20%, while Central and South Asia will decrease production by 30%. The coastal areas have become areas of high incidence of floods and extreme weather, posing danger to human life and survival activities. In the United Kingdom, once the global average temperature rises by 3–4°C, the annual loss due to flood increases from 0.1% of GDP to 0.2–0.4% of GDP.

1.1.2 Composition of global greenhouse gases

With the occurrence of climate warming, regardless of natural factors, the burning of fossil fuels in human activities is an absolute precipitating factor, and the gases that can result in global warming emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels are collectively referred to as greenhouse gases (GHGs). In the 1920s, French scientists discovered the greenhouse effect of nature, that is, some gases in the nighttime atmosphere can absorb and reflect infrared light to the ground, slowing the decline in the surface temperature of the earth at night, and the greenhouse effect reduces the temperature difference between day and night, making the earth more suitable for the survival and development of life. Since the Industrial Revolution, more and more fossil fuels have been burnt and the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere has continuously increased. The balance of the natural global warming effect has been broken and the global climate has become overheated.

There are many kinds of GHGs, among which the six major gases referred to in the International Convention on Climate Change are CO_2, CH₄, N₂O, PFC, SF₆ and HFC, generated mainly from energy activities, industrial production processes, agricultural activities, land-use change, forestry and urban wa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Preface
• Part I Theories and practice
• Part II Emission features
• References
• Index