China's water problems, which include chronic drought and ubiquitous pollution, could reach crisis proportions in coming decades. Experts have predicted that in 2030, when the Chinese population grows to 1.6 billion people, domestic water consumption will reach 100 percent of water availability. Although a large population and breakneck economic growth are at the root of China's water troubles, global warming is expected to exacerbate the problem.
Scarcity and Pollution Affect Millions
China supports one-fifth of the world's population with only 7 percent of global water resources. Per capita water availability is among the lowest in the world, and the majority of available water is concentrated in the south, leaving the north and west to experience regular droughts, which cause severe sandstorms and increasing desertification. Rivers, lakes and underground aquifers in northern China are literally drying up due to overuse, threatening food security and environmental health. Even where water is abundant, it is rarely clean due to widespread pollution. According to China's State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), 70 percent of lakes and five of China's seven largest rivers are so polluted that they are no longer suitable for human contact.
Water Availability Per Capita, 2007
Source: EarthTrends 2007
Melting Glaciers Contribute to Looming Water Crisis
Adding to China's water concerns, scientists are now reporting that the glaciers of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in western China are melting at an alarming rate. Analyzing four decades of data from nearly 700 weather stations, experts estimate the glaciers are shrinking seven percent each year due to global warming. Since the 1980's the plateau has warmed over two degrees Farenheit—a rate twice as fast as the rest of China. This trend is being seen in ice covered regions around the world due to the albedo affect: ice and snow are highly reflective of sunlight, but with melting, more solar radiation is absorbed into the exposed earth, causing warming to occur at an accelerated rate.
The loss of China's glaciers will exacerbate already severe water shortages throughout the country. The Yangtze, Yellow, Brahmaputra, Mekong and Salween Rivers all originate from these glaciers, and then go on to feed nearly half a billion people downstream. The Yangtze River Basin alone accounts for 40 percent of China's freshwater resources and over half of all rice, grain and fisheries production. Furthermore, glacial melting will likely worsen China's already severe sandstorms, which dumped 330,000 tons of dust in Beijing in just two days during April 2006.
Mountain Glacier Changes Since 1970
*Positive numbers indicate glacial thinning
Source: globalwarmingart.com
Greater Efficiency and Disaster Preparedness Are Vital
To avoid water crisis by 2030, China's water management systems must improve. Currently, China uses about 7-15 times more water to produce a unit of GDP than developed countries, meaning that employing water-saving technologies and accurate pricing schemes could shift the country towards greater water efficiency. Even with such measures, however, scarcity will continue to be a problem given current population and economic growth trends. Emergency plans to cope with drought and support for those farmers most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change will remain vital to China's national water strategy.
Above photo from Luo Shaoyang via Flickr
RELATED LINKS:
"Worries About Water as Chinese Glacier Retreats" (NPR)
World Bank: Addressing Water Scarcity in China
China Ministry of Water Resources
Chinese water pollution database and map
EarthTrends
Map: Projected Annual Renewable Water Supply by River Basin, 2025
Dirty Water: Pollution Problems Persist
