Editing Geography of Zambia (section)

==Environment==

[[File:Victoriafälle.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Victoria Falls]]]]Current issues for the environment in the country include: [[air pollution]] and resulting [[acid rain]] in the [[mineral]] extraction and refining region; chemical runoff into watersheds; poaching, which seriously threatens: rhinoceros, elephant, antelope, and large cat populations; [[deforestation]]; [[soil erosion]]; [[desertification]] and lack of adequate water treatment, which presents human health risks.

Zambia is considered to be [[Climate change vulnerability|vulnerable to climate change]]. The main impact pathway of climate change in the country is through increasing variability in rainfall amounts during the agricultural season across the various agroecological regions, and shifts in the duration of the rainy season.<ref>{{Cite book |first= |title=National Policy on Climate Change |publisher=Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection |year=2016 |location=Lusaka, Zambia |language=English}}</ref> Zambia is considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because the majority of the population rely on agriculture for their [[livelihood]]s - and changes in rainfall patterns has a negative impact due to the [[Rainfed agriculture|rainfed]] nature of production. Researched evidence suggested that temperature was likely to increase by 1.82<sup>o</sup>C and rainfall reduce by 0.87 percentage points by 2050.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ngoma|first1=Hambulo|last2=Lupiya|first2=Patrick|last3=Kabisa|first3=Mulako|last4=Hartley|first4=Faaiqa|date=2021|title=Impacts of climate change on agriculture and household welfare in Zambia: an economy-wide analysis|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03168-z|journal=Climatic Change|volume=167|issue=3–4|page=55|doi=10.1007/s10584-021-03168-z|bibcode=2021ClCh..167...55N|s2cid=221707009|issn=0165-0009|doi-access=free}}</ref> This means that the occurrence of [[Extreme weather|extreme climate events]] such as [[drought]]s and [[flood]]s would become more frequent.<ref>Kalantary, C. (2010). Climate change in Zambia: Impacts and adaptation. ''Global Majority E-Journal'', ''1''(2), 85-96.</ref>

Zambia is party to the following international agreements: [[Biodiversity]], [[United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change|Climate Change]], [[Desertification]], [[Endangered Species]], [[Hazardous Wastes]], [[Law of the Sea]], [[Nuclear Test Ban]], [[Ozone Layer Protection]] and [[Wetlands]]. Zambia has signed, but not ratified, the [[Kyoto Protocol]].