Temperature Bar Chart Asia-Cambodia--1901-2020--2021-07-13

Climate change in Cambodia presents major challenges for the country.

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

is highly vulnerable to the

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a ...

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

Extreme weather Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a loca ...

events will occur more frequently; this includes

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s, which already affect 90,000 residents annually, and heatwaves, with Cambodia already having one of the highest temperatures of the world. The temperature has increased since the 1960s by 0.18 °C per decade. It had the 7th lowest emissions in Asia in 2019. Climate change is leading to increased

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

in Cambodia, which is having major impacts on the

Tonlé Sap Tonlé Sap (; km, ទន្លេសាប, ; or commonly translated as 'Great Lake'; vi, Biển Hồ, Chữ Hán: 湖海/壺海) is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. It belongs to the Mekong River system. It is the largest freshwater l ...

and

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

deltas. These water systems are highly important for

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and fishing in the country. Cambodia's population is impacted by increasing floods,

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...

and

waterborne diseases Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washin ...

, and is highly vulnerable due to its high rate of poverty.

Greenhouse gas emissions

In 2020 Cambodia reported 15.33 mt in emissions and is responsible for 0.04% in 2019 and cumulatively 0.01% of worldwide emissions. The per capita emissions in 2019 were 0.97t since 2013 a big increase in emissions was observed with an increase of 192.69% between 2013 and 2019. 143.84 mt of emissions have been emitted between 1751 and 2019.

Impacts on the natural environment

Temperature and weather changes

The temperature has increased 0.18 °C per decade since 1980. Cambodia already has one of the highest temperatures in the world with 35 °C being recorded for 64 days a year nationally. These temperatures will rise in all RCP scenarios which could lead to permanent heat stress. The probability of

droughts A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

in 2080-2099 will rise from 4% annually to 5-9% under all scenarios. The sub-daily precipitation will likely increase in intensity. Around 90.000 people are annually exposed to flooding in Cambodia, in RCP 8.5 scenario this will increase to 160.000 people annually. A study that was done by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

expects that in 2050 19% of the population will be exposed to

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

Water

Lac Tonlé au Cambodge vue par Sentinel 2

A major climate change issue for Cambodia is the impact it has on the

lake and

river system. Climate change will impact water flow in the country and increase the frequency of

s. Hydropower dams have further exacerbated the issue.

Impacts on people

Impacts on the Tonlé Sap lake and Mekong will have considerable implications for

and fishing in the country. The Cambodian population, which has a high rate of poverty, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on

s and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

ranked Cambodia 46th out of 163 that they assessed on the impact of climate change on the youth. Cambodia was ranked as a high risk country in the report. The youth in Cambodia is already highly exposed to scarcity of water, riverine flooding and vector-borne disease which could worsen with the effects of climate change.

Mitigation and adaptation

The Cambodian government pledges to reduce emissions by 41.7% in 2030.

References

{{Cambodia topics Environment of Cambodia Climate change by country

Water in Cambodia