China's top weather scientist: Climate change could have a 'huge impact' on the country

A steel factory in China.
(Image credit: China Photos/Getty Images)

The head of China's meteorological administration said that climate change could pose a "serious threat" to infrastructure projects like the Three Gorges Dam and have a "huge impact" on the country's crop yields.

It was a rare acknowledgment by a top Chinese official of the affects of climate change, NPR reports. "As the world warms, risks of climate change and climate disasters to China could become more grave," Zheng Guogang told the Xinhua news agency. China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and is facing a possible "ecological degradation," Zheng said. He also said that temperatures in the country are rising faster than in other parts of the world.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.