Rising temperatures could lead to drastic shifts in weather, scientists at the meeting said. They said drought could strike farming areas, while melting polar ice could raise sea levels, flooding densely populated coastal areas of China, Egypt and other countries. In the most extreme projections, the report said, melting Antarctic ice could raise sea levels by up to 10 feet over the next 1,000 years. China is already suffering, said Ding Yihui, a co-chairman of the Shanghai meeting and former director of the China National Climate Center. Last year, the country suffered its worst drought in decades and grain production fell 10 percent.
China is the second-biggest producer of greenhouse gases, after the United States.
Beset by smog from its heavy reliance on coal, China has begun a massive effort to shift to natural gas and other cleaner fuels. The Shanghai conference was the start of a series of meetings under U.N. auspices to gather evidence for climate negotiators. Other gatherings will focus on the social and economic costs of global warming and how to reduce it. The series ends in April with the release of a huge report in Nairobi, Kenya. A key conflict in climate negotiations is a U.S.-led effort to reduce the impact of cuts.