North Korea

It takes only eighty days for the average Canadian to produce as much greenhouse gases as the average Korean will produce over the course of the entire year.  Therefore, March 21st (eighty days into the year) is "Climate Change Impacts in North Korea Day."

In recent years, according to the country’s First National Communication under the Framework Convention on Climate Change, North Korea has experienced the impacts of “abnormal climate” conditions.  An increase in average temperature has resulted in reduced crop production in many areas.  In 1995 and 1996, extreme rain damaged “several hundreds of thousands hectares of forest.”  Other impacts include severe drought and heavy flooding, which has lead to increased populations of “many harmful forest insects in some regions, resulting in decrease of seedling production and afforestation.”

Furthermore, an assessment on the vulnerability of coastal zones showed that sea level rise is a serious problem in North Korea.  It is predicted that the rising sea level will cause a retreat of coastline, damage to arable lands and salt-fields, and lead to beach erosion.  These negative impacts will affect the coastal ecosystem, fishery activities, industry, agriculture and residents in the coastal areas.

For more information on climate change impact on North Korea, continue reading “DPRK’s first national communication under the framework convention on climate change”.