Beijing (CNS) -- China's sea level is expected to rise 30 to 130 mm by 2030, according to the 2nd National Report on Climate Change released by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) at a press conference on Tuesday.
Experts addressed the meeting on the underlying causes of climate change and its trends, one such projected outcome being that at the end of the 21st century a hike in temperatures will significantly affect snowfall, vegetation types, species distribution, and disease communicability in China.
Snowfall frequency will drop in most regions of China, but be especially evident in the eastern and southern parts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, predicted the report.
The report also advised a new map of vegetation types and species distribution will be needed as the countryside adapts to evolving climatic patterns and the increasing runoff experienced by the Yangtze, Yellow, Songhua and Pearl Rivers, the four main waterways of China.
Rising temperatures will heighten the spread of pathogenic and infectious diseases, extending their range and intensifying health concerns, the report concluded.
Besides natural factors that include volcanic activity, solar activity and other disturbances in the Earth's ecologies and in space, human activities have played the main role in climate change since the mid 20th century, the experts present reiterated.
Liu Yanhua, head of the report compiling team and counselor to the State Council, responded that in 2009, the Chinese government set a goal for the year 2020: carbon dioxide emissions would be lowered by 40 to 45 percent per GDP unit compared to the 2005 figures, and the proportion of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption would be increased to 15 percent.
