Asia

ASIA

Here are highlights of the projected impacts of climate change on the Asia region based on the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (see first box on top right of screen).

Freshwater. Freshwater availability in Central, South, East and South-East Asia, particularly in large river basins, is projected to decrease due to climate change. By 2050, one billion people are expected to be adversely affected by this decline as a growing population and higher standards of living push up the pressure on freshwater resources.

Food. Crop yields could increase up to 20% in East and South-East Asia, while they could decrease up to 30% in Central and South Asia by mid-century. The net effect, along with rapid population growth and urbanization, keeps the risk of hunger very high in some developing countries in Asia.

Human health. Morbidity and mortality from diarrhoeal disease primarily due to floods and droughts are expected to rise in East, South and South-East Asia due to projected changes in the hydrological cycle associated with global warming. Increases in coastal water temperature would exacerbate the abundance and/or toxicity of cholera in South Asia.

Mountains and rivers. In the next 20 to 30 years, glacier melt in the Himalayas is projected to increase flooding and rock avalanches from destabilised slopes, and to affect water resources. This will be followed by decreased river flows as the glaciers recede. This has clear implications for populations (and agriculture) downstream for whom glacial melt is their primary water supply. In some parts of Russia, climate change could significantly alter the variability of river runoff such that extremely low runoff events may occur much more frequently in the crop growing regions of the south west.

Coastal populations. Coastal areas, especially heavily-populated megadelta regions in South, East and South-East Asia, will be at greatest risk due to increased flooding from the sea and, in some megadeltas, flooding from the rivers as well.

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Pakistan floods, 2010

floods

A relief camp housing several victims of the floods in Pakistan in 2010. Picture by UNFCCC.

Floods in 2010 that swamped one-fifth of Pakistan were linked to higher Atlantic Ocean temperatures by World Meteorological Organisation scientists (and other meteorologists), which said unequivocally that climate change had been “a major contributing factor” to the change in monsoon patterns. The atmospheric anomalies that led to the floods are also directly related to the same weather phenomena that caused the record heat wave in Russia, and flooding and mudslides in western China. In Pakistan, somewhere between 15 million and 20 million people were displaced (including those in the picture), and 1,600 people were confirmed dead.

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Individual countries in Asia

For more detailed analysis of the climate change related vulnerabilities of each country in the Asia region, click on the following. These links will take you to the country pages of the Adaptation Learning Mechanism. The information is sourced from country assessments and other external sources.

Central Asia

Eastern Asia

South-Eastern Asia

Western Asia

Southern Asia

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