Science Focus
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When it comes to projections of future global warming, most people are more interested in concrete impacts than abstract figures like average global temperature. That sort of information is contained in the second section of the latest IPCC report, which was just recently released. Among the things potentially impacted by climate change, the agricultural sector is of obvious relevance to those of us who eat food. (That includes you, Soylent fans.)
Given that population growth and economic progress in developing countries is expected to raise the demand for food by about 14 percent each decade, will climate change make it harder for farmers to feed the world?
It’s a complicated question with a number of relevant factors to consider. Temperature is the most obvious one. Many crops have problems with temperatures much above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), meaning regions that are already hot may not have much wiggle room. Warming also changes the timing of the spring thaw (but not the seasonal changes in daylight) and expands the growing season in some places. Then there’s precipitation, both in terms of rainfall and the high-elevation snow that can feed rivers in the summer. Together with temperature, changes in precipitation can alter soil moisture, either directly or by affecting sources of irrigation water. Those changes can also mean shifts in the range or prevalence of pests and diseases that plague crops.
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original post: http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/BiEQw3IO5aQ/
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