Cause Effect- Potential negative effects that climate change could have on China.

China along with India and Brazil will be one of the most important players in future international climate change negotiations. Experts agree that climate change will affect China, and China will affect climate change. Climate change will make China more vulnerable to damage caused by rising sea levels, drought, flooding, tropical cyclones, sand storms, and heat waves. Already, in 2004 alone, drought and floods damaged more than 37 million hectares of arable crops, leaving more than four million of them barren. Further instance would be the recent heavy snow that have been suffered by southern provinces since December in 2007, causing serious nation-wide traffic jam which stopped many people from going back home before China’s traditional lunar new year. As a big country, China has several climatic zones and a varied physical environment. North-west China is a largely arid and semi-arid, fragile environment that is highly vulnerable to climate change. In north-east China, a warmer climate might increase agricultural production, but extreme weather events, such as storms and flooding, would probably cause serious damage. In central and eastern China, winters are cold and summers are hot. The building industry in these regions is using more and more energy. Furthermore, Coastal areas in the south and east are densely populated, and a rise in sea levels due to global warming could greatly damage the economically dynamic and prosperous Zhujiang and Yangtze deltas which are giant manufacturing hubs that have helped earn China the nickname "the workshop of the world." Any large problem for these regions has much wider implications on China’s economy. Thus, insurance costs and taxes are likely to rise and there will be interruptions to power supply and transport as the effects of global warming are felt.