FACTBOX-Key facts on China and climate change

(Reuters) - China released its first national plan on climate change on Monday, setting out broad goals for tackling the effects of global warming and for curbing greenhouse gas pollution that is heating up the atmosphere.

Here are some key facts about climate change and China:

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS:

- China says global warming poses a serious threat through rising sea levels, worsening droughts in some regions, more unstable rain patterns in others, and melting glaciers.

- By 2020, annual mean temperatures could increase by 1.3 to 2.1 degrees Celsius from 2000, and by 2050 the rise could be 2.3 to 3.3 degrees.

- If adaptive steps are not taken, global warming could cut nationwide crop production by up to 10 percent by 2030. Wheat, rice and corn growing capacity could fall by up to 37 percent in the second half of the century.

TOTAL EMISSIONS ARE HIGH, PER-CAPITA EMISSIONS ARE LOW:

- China's rapid economic growth and huge population of more than 1.3 billion have made it the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States.

- The International Energy Agency has said China could emerge as the top emitter of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, as early as this year, a claim disputed by Chinese officials.