Climate Change and Its Impacts on the Korean Environment
CHAE-SHIL RHO

The concentrations of greenhouse gases have been measured at the Korea GAW(Global Atmospheric Watch) Center since 1998. During the period 1999-2006, theconcentration of carbon dioxide increased at a rate of 2.6ppm per year. However, theconcentrations of methane and nitrous oxide do not show any significant trend. Along time series (1911-2006) of annual mean air temperature at 14 stations in Korea
reveals that the diurnal temperature range(DTR) has levelled off since the late 1970s,
while there have been, during the period 1911-1970, nation-wide warming trends of1.2, 2.1 and 2.8℃ per 100 years for the mean annual maximum, mean and minimum
temperatures, respectively.
In the past, most of the summer rainfall was accompanied with theChangma front (sub-stationary polar front) which tends to persist for about one
month from late June to late July. However, after the 1970s, the summer heavy
rainfall tends to occur from late July through August (often up to early September)with increased frequency of heavy precipitation. Furthermore, the recent rainfalls
frequently show a pattern of irregular heavy rainfall under the influence of strong
atmospheric instability, topographic effect and so on, rather than the continuous andsystematic nature of rainfall accompanied with the Changma front in the past
To assess possible influences of wind speed on climatological value of theDTR, annual normals of both maximum and minimum temperature as well as winddata at 14 stations are used. A tentative result shows that the DTR seems to be
inversely proportional to the wind speed at non-urban stations. A trend analysis on
the climatological characteristics of tropical cyclones (TCs) shows a northward shiftof their genesis latitude, and a noticeable increase of the occurrence frequency of
TCs whose intensity is greater than tropical storm.
There were four distinct seasons in Korea. Recently, however, the length of
winter has become shorter with longer summer than the past. Based on current model
simulation, it is very likely that the flowering dates of Japanese Cherry is expected tobe earlier by 9, 21 and 29 days, compared with the current normal (1971-2000), inthe future normal years 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100, respectively. (Fivedays earlier flowering than normal was recorded in Seoul this year). Studies on therelationship between temperature rise and changes in the northern limit of vegetation
growth in Korea show that the northern limit of bamboos (phyllostachys) moved
northward about 60-100km during the period 1907-2003. The boundary between thenorthern type and the southern type of garlic also moved northward about 40-140km

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since the early 1980s. Northward shifts of main producing districts of several
agricultural products (e.g., rice, winter potato, winter Chinese cabbage, apple, etc.)
are also reported.
The average rise of SST(Sea Surface Temperature) during the last 39 years
is 0.93℃ (the East Sea and the Yellow Sea: 0.97℃, the South Sea: 1.11℃) and its
annual rising rate is 0.067℃ during the last decade (1995-2004).
The average rising rates of sea level in the Yellow Sea and the East Sea are
1.0-2.0mm per year over the last 49 years (1960-2006). There are some evidencesthat the sea level rise is quicker in the South East than other two Seas. Northward
shift and widening of fishing ground, during winter season in particular, in theKorean Water are good examples of global warming and its impacts on major
fisheries in Korea. All evidences above suggest that global warming could alter theplant phenology and marine ecosystem of the Korean Peninsula with unpredictableconsequences.