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Climate Change, Disaster Risks, and Human Security pp 281–290Cite as

The 2009 Drought in the People’s Republic of China: A Human Security Perspective

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Abstract

In spite of China’s notable progress and policy innovation in socioeconomic development, the country confronts obstacles forestalling severe drought crises facing 1.4 billion people. Environmentally, China is threatened by the dual and paradoxical challenges of flooding in the south and drought in the north as well as extreme pollution levels. Although drought is historically an environmental phenomenon in China, it is evident that climate change will accelerate its impacts. In terms of the drought scenario for China, the impacts will be severe and will increase exponentially. Between January 2009 and April 2010, China experienced three severe drought episodes that were classified at the once-in-a-100-year level. This chapter argues that the human security perspective, first enunciated by the UNDP in a landmark 1994 report, offers a useful prism through which to examine the country’s profound 2009–2010 drought crisis, the government response, and the continuing effect upon society nearly a decade later.

Keywords

  • China
  • Drought
  • Climate change
  • Human security
  • Environment

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.—Lao Tzu

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Political Science Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia, Canada

    Ross Michael Pink

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  1. Ross Michael Pink
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Correspondence to Ross Michael Pink .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, College of Forestry & Natural Resources (CFNR), University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

    Juan M. Pulhin

  2. Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan

    Makoto Inoue

  3. Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan

    Prof. Rajib Shaw

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Pink, R.M. (2021). The 2009 Drought in the People’s Republic of China: A Human Security Perspective. In: Pulhin, J.M., Inoue, M., Shaw, R. (eds) Climate Change, Disaster Risks, and Human Security. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8852-5_13

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