Chinese Official Warns About Impact of Climate Change

FILE - Pedestrians wearing mask against heavy pollution wait to cross a traffic junction in Beijing, China, March 16, 2015.

China's top weather official said climate change could have a "huge impact" on the country.

Zheng Gougang, chief of China's Meteorological Administration, said in an interview with the official Xinhua news agency that global climate change will reduce crop yields, lead to ecological degradation and create unstable river flows.

He said temperature increases in China are higher than the global average and that climate change could pose a serious threat to several infrastructure projects including the Three Gorges Dam.

Zheng called for China to take a low-carbon development path.

China is the world's largest source of carbon dioxide emissions. Officials have pledged to peak its emissions by 2030.

Some material for this report came from AFP.