Nearly 70 percent of water withdrawn in China is for agriculture, while 20 percent is withdrawn to mine, process, and consume coal. By 2020, China’s water use — driven in large part by the 30 percent expected increase in coal-fired power production — will increase dramatically.

Much of China’s food and coal production is located in its northern desert provinces, where Chinese climatologists and hydrologists say climate change is already disrupting patterns of rain and snowfall.

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