Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

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, ...

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

Extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...

events will occur more frequently; this includes

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, 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 of significant con ...

s, which already affect 90,000 residents annually, and

heatwaves A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

, 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 a period of 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, ...

in Cambodia, which is having major impacts on the

Tonlé Sap Tonlé Sap (; , ; or commonly translated as 'Great Lake') is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. Belonging to the Mekong, Mekong River system, Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most diverse and prod ...

and

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

deltas. These water systems are highly important for

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

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

floods A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, 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 of significant con ...

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

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 by water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing ...

, and is highly vulnerable due to its high rate of

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

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 a period of 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, ...

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 Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

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 of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

Water

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 Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on

s and

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

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